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1 itk of I dWe^ ar k C? :Baltiia 



A 

HISTORY 

OF THE LIFE AND SERVICES 

OP 

CAFTAZSr SAMUEXi DElXrEES» 

A NATIVE OF PENNSYLVANIA, AND 

SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY AND LAST WARS, 

ALSO, 

REMINISCENCES 



Revolutionary Struggle (Indian War, Western Expedition, Liberty Insur- 
rection in Northampton County, Pa.) and Late War with Great Britain. 

IN ALL OF WHICH HE WAS PATRIOTICALLY ENGAGED. 

The whole written (in part from manuscript in the hand writing of Captain 
Dewees,) and compiled 

BY JOHN SMITH HANNA. 



Embellished with a lithographic likeness of Captain Dewees, and witb- 
eight wood-cut engravings, illustrative of portions of the work. 



Joy there is in contemplating noble worth, 
Worth often neglected and despised. 

Worth that oft in hours dark stood forth, , ^ |, 

As thunderbolts of war, — yea eagle eyed. 
V 



■^i 



iSaltimovt: 



PRINTED BY ROBERT NEItlS'ON,^- 

No. 6, South Charles street. 

1844. 



IV PREFACE. 

action between those that plan and order the affairs of a 
battle and those that execute the orders of a superior 
and bear the burthen and heat of the day, as some peo- 
ple are pleased to create. Were this great difference to 
exist where would he place a bold and chivalrous Champ, 
a Jasper, a Newton and a McDonald that constituted 
patriotic warring hosts in themselves — a McComas, a 
Wells, patriotic life-sacrificing Defenders of Baltimore, 
and many others that were subordinates and privates in 
the armies of his country. It is true that where officers 
brave and meritorious have led, soldiers have followed 
into the most imminent danger and to death; but as true 
it is, that, without bravery in men, officers would not, 
could not dare to rush single-handed and alone to the 
combat against thousands. True it is that brave and 
daring officers are necessary in any army to inspire a 
soldiery with bravery and to make brave men to act with 
a still greater degree of fearlessness of spirit in the hour 
of greatest dangers. 

For his own part he can state, that he feels as all oth- 
er persons in his country ought to feel (and as very 
many do feel) in relation to a revolutionary and last war 
soldiery — disposed to respect, honor and aid them as 
far as abilities will permit at all times; and this, on ac- 
count of their suffering services rendered their country 
in a glorious struggle for Liberty, Independence and 
Right. Many officers in both wars fared little, if any 
better than did the privates themselves, but the oppor- 
tunities of many to fare much better were vastly greater 
than privates in general. 

Having (when a small boy) had a camp residence of 
four months with his father in the tented field. — on the 
frontiers of his country during the last war, he has had 
a much better opportunity of knowing something of the 
hardships, privations and sufferings of an American sol- 
diery than many of his readers, and could give many 
relations, but as he is necessarily bounded by the limits 
of a preface let two or three statements suffice. 

Let his readers accompany him to the almost insup« 



1»R£FAC£. V 

portable wintry Cold climate in which is situated the 
town of Erie (on the margin of lake Erie) in Pa., and 
there picture to themselves thousands of soldiers stand- 
ing mid-leg in snow and water and enduring a northern 
or north-western wind that had swept the surface of that 
body of inland water for the distance of from 50 to 70 
or 80 miles, winds more cold than very many of his 
readers ever felt, thousands of soldiers engaged in felling 
huge hemlock and other large timber that grew there, and 
after lopping off the limbs or branches, piling them into 
great '^ brush heaps^^ and then behold them pitching their 
linen tents upon these for the purpose of keeping them- 
selves out of water, and in order that they might sleep 
by night with some degree of security against its en- 
croachments. To the lovers of winter comforts arising 
out of comfortable homes and warm cloathing these 
would seem cold habitations indeed. 

There stood the Volunteer shiverina: Sentinel bold. 

Battling for his Columbia's weal and not for gold, 

Pierced by old Winter's keen and cutting frosts, 

A monument of triumph truly, in justice eraboss'd. 

** In memory of th' illustrious dead, 

Th' immortal heroes, who have bled, 

Their country to defend ; 

Let greatful toasts re-echo round, 

And let their fame's eternal sound. 

From earth to heaven ascend." 

What would our modern fastidious and squeamish 
dandy lordlings of insignificance and empiric emptiness 
say to such a life as this. How would they set them- 
selves about to contend for the prize — to endeavor to 
bear away the palm by entering the lists with such ve- 
teran sons of herculean strength and hardihood as the 
(too often) despised soldiers of my country. How 
would they relish a cut oisurloin steak or standing rib of 
a miserably poor, aged and infirm worn out old work ox, 
such as the author seen slaughtered with his iron shoes 
on, near to the bank of saw-mill run, adjoining Garrison 
Hill at Erie, the more especially if they had beheld a 
butcher with an ox goad wand and heard his ^^wo whaw 
come around /iere" expression in his conducting him as it 
1* 



VI PREFACE. 

were by ihetalismanic power of his w?anc^ and the authori- 
tative charm of his ^^wo whaw come around /iere" musical 
chant until he brought himto the very identical spot where 
he was to be knocked down, and where he was knocked 
down, skinned and dressed in the presence of the author. 
Recollect readers that this was soldier's meat. Worse 
than this surely was that meat offered and refused after- 
wards that would cause Col. Fenton's Regiment of Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers and Militia through their brave and 
much lamented Col. Bull, to refuse its acceptance and 
prompt them to live nme days upon bread and water, ere 
they would receive it. The above fell out under the 
author's own notice, and many other facts of a similar 
kind might be adduced to prove the life of a soldier in 
time of war, to have been an extremely hard one, and 
with the recollections of these hardships and starving 
privations, his recollections also serve him with that 
which casts no imputation upon his Government. The 
necessity of drawing such rations was attributable al- 
together at this time to the avaricious and unfeeling con- 
duct of fory contractors. 

The endurance of far less than these ought to call forth 
a much greater degree of gratitude, aid and general res- 
pect towards our gallant old relicks of revolutionary yore 
than is generally meted out to them — a much more bright 
and all hail countenance of welcome towards our last 
war heroes than is generally extended to them. 

To his readers he must state that Captain Dewees' re- 
collections of many events is quite remarkable, and of 
given names and the names of places not less so. His 
recollections of particular dates with regard to months, 
or days of months is quite imperfect, the author has 
squared all his statements made to him with correct his- 
tories of the events of both wars. His recollections of 
particular years is very good considering his advanced 
age. His recollection of the seasons of the year in which 
certain events transpired has been of signal service to 
him also in his labors. He was young when he enlisted 
in the army, and as will be perceived from a perusal of 



prefAe. 



Vll 



the first few pages of his history that the opportunities 
of being an apt and close observer at his age were very 
limited, and the circumstance of his being much more 
the creature of the will of others than many of his sol- 
dier companions, it is not to be expected that he could 
be so full in his details as he might have otherwise been, 
still, had his history been drawn from him many years 
ago, or when he was much younger than he is now, 
many very good and choice facts or relations might have 
been obtained. The author intends however to gather 
from him all additional relations that his memory will 
enable him to bestow upon him preparatory to his issu- 
ing a second edition of the work, for experience had 
upon his part since he has been engaged in reducing his 
statements to writing convinces him that m\ich cream of 
his history as reminiscences of the past, are locked up 
in the age-bound lodgments of forgetfulness. 

With regard to statements made by the old gentleman 
relative to his own personal performances in running, 
jumping, shooting, &c., it must be observed that no 
charge of extravagance or exaggeration will be preferred 
against him by those that have known him during his 
past life ; as a marksman of the first order, he is known by 
many inhabiting the section of country in which he now 
resides. 

Theauthor does not pretend to state that the work will 
be void of inaccuracies. By some he may be chargeable 
with using cant words and phrases, these it will at once 
appear are in common use, and as they have been v>^ords 
or phrases that were often used in a jocular way by sol- 
diers and retained by Mr. Dewees, in the manuscript he 
has at times furnished, the author has retained them 
also. This being the case he is the more inclined to 
indulge in their use, giving them to his readers as used 
by himself, and affixing to them generally the mark of 
quotation and italicising them. With regard to these, 
I have nothing more to state except this, that their use 
is nothing like as unpardonable as many vulgar, no 
meaning expressions uttered daily by many persons, fe- 



VIU PREFACE. 

males among them too, whose chances for the recovery 
of chaste words and expressions (if ever they were so un- 
fortunate as to lose so valuable an acquisition or gem 
of brilliancy) have been very great — opportunities offer- 
ing themselves, yes and daily, and all sufficient to work 
wonders in the very laudable art of refining the mind, 
and cultivating a refined taste when in the use of their 
conversational powers, should such a course be perse- 
vered in there would not be any necessity for turning 
often away disgusted from female company, otherwise 
respectable. 

As the work is afforded at a very low rate, he has 
possessed a very great desire to make it not only an in- 
teresting but an instructive volume. The causes of the 
revolutionary and last wars are not printed in general in 
such books as are plentifully disseminated. With the 
view of greatly benefitting very many he has therefore 
drawn up at length a succinct account of many of the 
circumstances that were the procuring causes of the re- 
volutionary struggle, and appended to it the declaration 
of American Independence. He has also inserted at 
some length the causes of the late war, with a general 
outline of the course of procedure upon the part of the 
United States' government in conducting the war with 
Great Britain. 

An apology perhaps is due for the free use he has 
made of poetical effusions. Prose writings interspersed 
with poetry from the pens of gifted authors he looks 
upon as he does upon a verdant landscape, on whose 
face rises prominently into view the beautiful laurel 
evergreen, and its God formed and finished flowers of 
the most exquisite loveliness, or verdant ever flowering 
aromatic magnolia of rich and sublime gjrandeur. He 
has endeavored to enrich the present volume with some 
very elegant pieces of poetry. That they possess the 
true flame of an exalted and undying patriotism, brilli- 
ancy, sublimity and morality of sentiment, chasteness of 
thought, flowing in strains of the fiee, he leaves his 
readers to judge. He wishes in their use to establish a 



PREFACE. IX 

kind of court of the graces at the levee of which he de- 
sires our patriotic youth of both sexes to be in attend- 
ance for the purpose of cultivating and polishing the 
taste, enriching the understanding, animating and warm- 
ing their bosoms wiih the glow of patriotic fervor, bind- 
ing more closely thereto, the principles of a true, intrin- 
sic and lasting patriotism ; and lastly, of bettering the 
heart? I wish in catering deep to open up a fountain at 
which our patriotic youth may drink in large draughts 
of satisfying waters of poetic purity. Those pieces that 
are original, he hopes will also meet with the approba- 
tion of his readers. 

In the prose part of the work the author has been 
somewhat indifferent as to system. He wishes to con- 
vey distinctly his meaning to his readers at all times. — 
Plain and candid people will most certainly be satisfied 
with unadorned, unaflfected and unvarnished relations 
and illustrations. 

The moral admonitions which the author has seen 
proper to indulge in from time to time for the lasting 
good of others he hopes will be countenanced by the 
good, and that his laying the foundation occasionally for 
a hearty laugh he hopes will not incur their displeasure. 

That his patriotic councils to the youth of his Colum- 
bia may be as well received upon the part of children, as 
he hopes they wdll be upon the part of parents is a high 
ambition pleasurably possessed by himself. If parents 
shall be pleased to hail them to their habitations as a valu- 
able acquisition to be used as a right hand of aidance 
in the mental culture of their children, impressing their 
doctrines in a sedulous manner upon their minds, shall 
contribute largely towards remunerating him for his trou- 
ble in the fields of his labor had upon their account. 

As there cannot be a too frequent use made of biogra- 
phical sketches of the illustrious patriotic dead, and 
noble and brave hearted living, he has made honorable 
mention of many of the patriotic revolutionary and late 
war worthies. Our youth and (he may add) many that are 
now settled in life and that have become heads of fami- 



X PREFACE, 

lies, betray a shockingly ignorant state of mind and im- 
perfect knowledge at the present day, with regard to the 
great pillars of our glorious republic, civilians and sol- 
diers of the revolutionary and last wars. Added to the 
remissness of parents and teachers, many are the causes 
which are calculated to bring about such a state of bar- 
renness or sterility of intellectual soil. 

The eulogy and extracts from eulogies pronounced 
upon the death of the great and good Washington it is 
ho{)ed wall not be looked upon as a fulsome intrusion. 

The remarks, extracts, &c. upon the character of 
Washington, and other extracts — reminiscences of the 
past as contained in the work the author flatters himself 
will too be acceptable W'ith his readers. 

With Thos. Paine's production, his Age of Reason 
which strikes at the divinity of a Saviour and endeavors to 
sap the foundation of the christian religion, the author of 
this present work cannot be said to have claimed an ac- 
quaintance. With this folly attached to noble patri- 
otic GREATNESS, and the sin of committing that folly he 
has nothing to do, and w-ith regard to this he leaves the 
author thereof in the hands of that Just Being who re- 
compenseth aright, not daring further 

To " draw his frailties from tVieir dread abode, 
CTliere tliey alike in trembling hope repose,) 
The bosom of his Father and his God." 

The extracts he has made from the pen of Thomas 
Paine, and his observations upon him in the work, he 
conceives to be highly due to him as a particularly strong 
and bright patriotic star of his Columbia, '^ in the days 
that tried men's souls." These he hopes will be alto- 
gether acceptable with his patriotic, just and charitable 
readers. 

I have taken the liberty of inserting some paragraphs 
drawn from Hale's United States, Cobb's Sequel and 
from Frost's United States, three excellent works de- 
signed chiefly for the use of common Schools and Aca- 
demies; to place them in the hands of youth, will cer- 



PREFACE. ' XI 

lainly be bestowing a rich treat. It would be quite un- 
necessary perhaps for the author to state that in a work 
of the kind as is here proposed much is looked for at the 
hands of an author. With regard to himself he can state 
he raises no claims to being a scholastic author. He is 
one of your self-taught men, having had the advantages 
of but one month and Jive day^s schooling since in the 
eleventh year of his age. In making this statement he 
is not to be viewed as casting a single reflection upon 
his parents, by whom he was respectably reared and 
provided for in his youth. He was alone deprived of a 
classical education, through a father's losing by mis- 
fortune the earnings of twenty-five years of his life. If 
the work is not in itself calculated to meet with a gen- 
eral approval, allowances undoubtedly can and will be 
made for the author by the reasonable and well disposed 
among his readers. 

Your preface already too long — now let it cease. 
Leave war awhile and contemplate sweet peace; 
Peace that passeth understanding, and that gives, 
A glorious zest of life to him that rightly lives. 
" No trumpets" now " with martial clangor sound. 
No prostrate heroes strew the crimson'd ground; 
No groves of lances glitter in the air. 
Nor thundering drums provoke the sanguine war ; 
But white-robed peace, and universal love 
Smile in the field and brighten every grove. 
There all the beauties of the circling year, • 
In native ornamental pride appear ; 
Gay rosy-bosom'd spring and April showers. 
Wake from the tomb of earth the rising flowers ; 
In deeper verdure sumjnier clothes thcplain. 
And AUTUMN bends beneath the golden grain ; 
The trees weep amber, and the whispering gales 
Breeze o'er the lawn, or murmur through the vales ; 
The flowery tribes in gay confusion bloom, 
Profuse of sweets, and fragrant with perfume; 
On blossoms blossoms, fruits on fruits arise. 
And varied prospects glad the wand'ringeyes. 
In these fair scats" we'd " pass the joyous day. 
Where meadows flourish and where fields look gay; 
From bliss to bliss with endless pleasure rove. 
Seek crystal streams, or haunt the vernal grove. 
Woods, fountains, lakes, the fertile fields or shsdes, 
Aerial mountains or subjacent glades ;" 
Alternately, our fond attentions shall claim. 
Better our hearts and swell Grace's inspiring flame, 
, Grace, that points the soul to yonder heaveri^Iy bright sphere, 

Where Happiness and Peace shall reign unceasing, in one eternal 
year. 



XU • PREFACE. 

With many good wishes for the readers of this volume 
— that they may be pleased, benefitted, happy and bless- 
ed in their perusal of it, a work not faultless, yet com- 
piled with great labor and care, a prefatory adieu is bade: 
them by the 

AUTHOR. 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS, 



TO THE READERS OF THE FOLLOWING WOBK. 



As a first remark I would stale to my readers that I 
have from advisement been induced to offer, instead of 
an ordinary introduction, an introductory address — a sy- 
nopsis (as it were) of the services of Captain Dewees, 
his father, mother, brothers, sister and of his own son. 

Although this course is somewhat of a departure from 
the established order of other authors, yet, I can rejoice 
that whilst I make the departure I still remain within 
the pale of truth, and look not so much to method or the 
routine of empty forms as I do to utility arising out of 
my design. 

Believing that such an address will operate as a key 
to usher the reader into the more interesting departments 
of the work itself — that it will sharpen the taste of my 
readers and enable them to relish the history itself, pro- 
portionate to the increased anxieties created within them 
for a perusal thereof. 

With this belief then, I offer it to the candid reader. 

LadieSy Gentlemen and Volunteer Citizen Soldiers 
of my Columbia: 

"When in the courseof human events" ii becomes ne- 
cessary to arise to duty in a good cause, it is not unnatu- 
ral to look for countenance and aid to those who do 
always approbate a laudable undertaking. It becomes 
necessary to give countenance and aid — to foster with 
a tender hand, one who has trudged the dark and stor- 
my path of peril in tlie past, in defence of the Declara- 
tion of American Independence — American Indepen- 
dence, the offspring of that assembled band of patriotic 
2 



14 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 



and sworn brothers, who constituted in 1776, the Colura* 
bian galaxy of nobleness, wisdom, patriotism, firmness, 
bravery, boldness, and high wrought heavenly magna- 
nimity. 

I have written, compiled and published a history of the 
life and services of CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES, a 
soldier of the Revolution — a soldier of the last war. 
Capt. Samuel Dewees, a venerable patriot who has 
trudged the dark and stormy path of peril in the past, in 
defence of home, country ancl friends. 

The frosts of nearly 84 ivinters have cast their blight- 
ing influences upon and around his patriotic brow of man- 
hood and of bravery. His family, the family with which 
he was connected in the capacity of son and brother, 
w^ere with himself, so patriotically identified wdth the 
well fought for and signally obtained liberty, peace, pros- 
perity and lasting independence of my country, that fa- 
ther and mother, sister and brothers, daughter and sons 
might well have been denominated the patriotic warrior 
family. 

The thirteen colonies, borne down by a long series of 
the most tyrannical and blighting usurpations, oppres- 
;.iv"e measures the most weighty were exercised in con- 
tinuance toward them, and cruelty most demoniac and 
unreasonable of all, declared, you shall do that, which 
you cannot do. The things that are impossible, shall be 
your tasks to accomplish. 

In this deplorable condition of things what did our 
fathers do? Did they lie down and tamely suffer that 
British myrmidons should trample upon and over their 
already borne down necks ? Did they cringingly sub- 
mit to'these wanton abuses so profusely heaped upom 
them ? No! God be thanked, they arose FREEMEN 
in their might, they flung the motto oi'-'-DonH tread upon 
wc," to the wild breezes of Heaven, they called upon 
God as their Witness, Judge, Protector, Helper 
AND Friend — sounded boldly the loud noted clarion of 
defensive violence; and with a strong, well nerved and i 
matchless arm of innocence; they rolled back the tide of j 

I 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 15 

war with an unexampled success upon the heads of their 
guilty, lawless, infuriated and unmerciful enemies. They 
hurled them in the display and exercise of a mighty and 
glorious military prowess — they hurled them in the exer- 
cise of an onward colonial strength gigantic, as enemies 
of freedom, from off LIBERTY'S soil. 

Among those that nobly assisted in this bold strike for 
freedom and for freeman's rights, was the family to which 
the aged sire belonged, whom I am now bringing to your 
notice. A father embossed in the heaven-bound and 
sacred vessel of stern justice — a vessel containing the 
heaven-born and all glorious principles of Republicanism 
— a father, first of all, clasped a bleeding country, and 
her dearest interests, close to his courageous heart. 
Next followed in the wake of a patriotic sire, two young, 
vigorous, manly and patriotic sons. Sons ? Yes ! Sons 
whose patriotic conduct was tantamount to this, 

**We swear to keep thee great and free, 
Columbia — land of liberty." 

One of these passed unhurt through the fiery ordeal of 
a scathful war; whilst of the other no doubt remains of 
his having fallen a victim to the horrors of a long and a 
bloody conflict and perished among others, whose fates 
are unknown, upon the battle-fields of their country. 

Who followed next in the stately steppings of bold 
and magnanimous patriotism ? — Woman ! Woman ! 
A wife ! A mother ! A wife, a mother, when a husband, 
a father, fell covered w^ith wounds and wdth glory at the 
siege of Fort Washington, in November, 1776; andw^as 
captured by a British foe, and she heard the sad news 
thereof, did she sit down and brood over the dark side 
of things? No! She was up and doing. No! She 
exhibited herself a w^oman among a thousand. No I 
She unscaredly laid hold of w^hat she deemed the most 
favorable (aUhough hazardous indeed) horn of the dilem- 
ma. She who combined the tenderness of woman, the 
faithfulness of wife, and the courage of a man in her 
nature. What did she do ? She trusted to the strong 



16 INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 

arm of the God of battles — to the Lord God of Hosts, 
took her life in her hands and went forth and threw her- 
self into — into what? Into a British camp, without 
having first procured the protection of an American flag 
to secure her person from insults and injuries that 
might have been offered to, or inflicted upon her person 
in her passage thither by the lawless sons of Belial.* 
There ! Yes, there in a British camp, she demanded a 
permit of the British officers to visit a loathsome prison- 
ship — a high road of and to speedy death. Demanded 
a permit to visit the pestilential prisonship, in which laid 
bleeding and suffering the object of her early attach- 
ment, — the object of her first love, — the partner of her 
joys — the partner of her sorrows, — a husband to whom as 
his wife she had sworn allegiance to as her lord, at the 
sacred altar in marriage. She sought him that she might 
minister to his comforts and soothe him in his gloomy 
hospital. Sought him that she might with a tender 
hand alleviate his sufferings in the long and dark, dark 
hours of his painful extremity. The favor she demand- 
ed, and that her sex was entitled to receive, was not 
granted. She next implored and for a while, even her 
begging for God's sake was vain, and what the sacred 
name of the Deity and all her waste of words could not af- 
fect, her persevering spirit of importunity at length accom- 
plished for her. She was permitted to visit the prison- 
ship and was admitted into that horrible abode of human 
misery. This trial was a severe one, the sacrifice was 
too great, nature shrunk back from the task and this rev- 
olutionary mother sunk down under the weight of her 
accumulated sorrows — under this burden altogether too 
weighty to be borne. From these and the pestilential 
staunch arising within this crowded and sickly abode of 
sufferers, she fell sick, and as a reward for her own un- 



*It is not to be understood that the writer conceives that the British army- 
was made up of a lawless material in the main, nor yet that he conceives 
that the armies of his own country- were composed of angels, but humanity 
and justice to a fallen foe was ever the lovely characteristic in the bosoms 
of an American soldiery, officers and men, and for which my countrymen 
ataud gloriously unrivalled upon the pages of history ancient and modert\. 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 17 

ceasing importunities (which reward she should have 
received as a reward for her fidelity to her husband, for 
she plead in the midst of her illness for the release of 
that husband) she received liberty upon a condition for 
him. What was the condition upon which she received 
liberty for him? The condition was, that he should not 
be found fighting again against the crown of Great Bri- 
tain. She received liberty for him upon parole of honor. 
From whom did she receive it ? From those that should 
have blushed when they were called men — when they 
were called the offspring of Christians. — Savages act 
nobly because it is nature within them prompting them 
to do so, but a mock nobleness was here exhibited, a 
nobleness artiiicially wrought up in the bosoms of har- 
dened cruelty upon the one hand, by a most brilliant 
display of persevering and unyielding importunity, cour- 
age, faithful and exemplary virtuous actions upon the 
other. Where do we iind this revolutionary heroine — 
this revolutionary mother to whose bosom was often 
clasped in fondness Capt. Samuel Dewees, (the subject 
of this address) in his early infancy — this relick of rev- 
olutionary times, before whom I am bold to assert I am 
proud to rise up and do him honors. Where do we 
find her after the release of her husband ? Where do we 
find her that endeared herself to that husband by the 
sacred appellation of wife in truth? On her way home- 
ward accompanied by that husband for whom she had 
made such a lofty sacrifice, and next upon abed of death 
in the first FREE, INDEPENDENT, AND DIGNI- 
FIED city of LIBERTY upon all earth— in Philadel- 
phia, where she died ere she reached her home. 

Well might that husband then have hung his harp in 
sorrow upon the willows and have exclaimed in the sad 
and bitter anguish of a deeply wounded and crushed 
heart. 

** Wo came with war and want with wo, 
And it was mine to undergo 
Each outrage of the cruel foe, 
Can aught" on this cold earth "atone, 
My fields made waste, my cots laid low," 
The spirit of a faithful wife in death is flown, 
2* And I, sorrowing I, am left alone. 



18 INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 

Did that father suffer even the separating power of the 
king of terrors to pluck the sacred cause of a bleeding 
country from his patriotic and steel true heart — that heart 
which had but just drank so deeply of the imbittered 
fountains of sorrow ? No. He followed her destinies 
with his bosom bared to the storms — followed her des- 
tinies until he fell a victim himself to disease, in the hands 
of the stern monarch of the grave within the camp of 
that country. 

Who followed next in the patriotic w^ake of father, 
mother and brothers? Who? Our now aged veteran 
father Capt. Samuel Dewees. Capt. Dewees, then a 
boy, a stripling, but like to a David of old, a stripling, 
w^ith a lion's heart and an eagle's eye. Who bound the 
all hallowed cause of a bleeding Columbia upon the front 
tablet of his young but patriotic heart? Captain Dewees; 
and time it is well known has not yet obliterated it. 
Where do we find him sometime after the decease of a 
country loving father? Next akin to barefoot, trudging 
the pathway alone to Valley Forge encampment. There 
to join the patriotic army a second time under the now 
immortal but then God-led father of his country — the 
ever to be venerated WASHINGTON— "Washington, 
first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his ; 
countrymen." Where is that youthful sister? She 
that repaired to the camp of her country to nurse Capt. \ 
Dewees, her then youthful brother, when laid upon a 
bed of languishing with small pox. Where is that youth- j 
ful sister who was left an unbefriended and friendless or- 
phan with Capt. Dewees, her then youthful brother in the 
camp of her country by the decease of a brave, bold and 
fearless father? Where? In the tomb, to where her ■ 
body was consigned in less than two months after the 
decease of her father. Her body. Yes ! But where is 
the immortal part? Her pure, hallowed and innocent ; 
spirit of patriotism rests doubtless in the glorified bosom 
of her triumphant and redeeming God. Where do we 
behold our patriotic and now aged father, this paragon of I 
bravery during the Revolutionary struggle? We find' 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 19 

him in the army of his country at Valley Forge, Bran- 
dywine, Easton, Lebanon, Germantown, Allentown, 
Philadelphia, Bethlehem, Lancaster, Carlisle, York and 
Chester in Pa., Wihnington and New Castle in Dela- 
ware, Baltimore in Maryland, Trenton, Princeton, Mor- 
ristown, Somerset Court House and Elizabethtown Point 
in Jersey, and at Ticonderoga, Crown Point, West 
Point, White Plains, Fishkill, Long Island, Saratoga, 
Fort Schuyler, and Stoney Point in New York, and at 
other military posts then established within the colonies. 
The hardships which he endured in common with por- 
tions of the American soldiers at some of the above posts 
were of a cast sufficient to startle luxury and prompt her 
to ask on what was life sustained? For what did an 
American soldiery fight ? She would doubtless be sat- 
isfied with any thing else in the form of an answer than 
sovereign truth as contained in the following: Sustain- 
ed? On a biscuit and a herring per day for days and 
days together and these after starving for the space of 
two and three days at a time. For home, for countiy, 
for liberty, precious liberty, and for the eternal rights 
natural and acquired of men — of Freemen. 

To the praise of Captain Dewees be it stated, that no 
emergency has at any time arisen in the United States 
since the ever memorable year of 1776, up to the year 
1814, that our country's aged friend has not voluntarily 
stepped forth, patriotically participated in and borne a 
conspicuous part. He was one of a detachment that 
marched in 1782 into the then wilderness interior of 
Pennsylvania, above where Lewistown now stands, on 
the Juniata river. This expedition was ordered from 
Carlisle Barracks, against the Indians then engaged in 
butchering the inhabitants of that region of country. In 
that expedition a drummer was shot down near to where 
he (Capt. Dewees) stood. 

He was commissioned a Captain in 1784 — sometime 
after which he embraced the opportunity that offered to 
pay military respect and honors to Columbia's noble 
chieftain George Washington, when President of the 



20 INTKODirCTORY ADDRESS. 

United States, and in a manner that reflects the greatest 
credit upon him as the commander of a company — doing 
that, which perhaps none other commissioned officer but 
himself would have done, by way of sacrifice, to have 
honored the illustrious Washington. 

He marched a volunteer from Harrisburg, and was un- 
der the immediate command of Gen. Washington, (then 
President of the United States,) at Carlisle, and then 
under Governor Lee, of Virginia, in the " Western Ex- 
pedition;" or, as it was also termed, the "Whiskey In- 
surrection," in the western parts of Pennsylvania — was 
one of the 15,000 troops that marched in that expedi- 
tion in 1794 to Pittsburg, to put down this insurrection- 
ary spirit, and sustain the Constitution and laws of his 
country. 

He was one of the great body of Pennsylvania troops 
called out in 1798 to put down what was called the Lib- 
erty Insurrection, in Northampton county, Pa., and re- 
mained in the field until the Constitution and laws of his 
country were again sustained and made triumphant. 

When the difficulties originated between the American 
republic and the republic of France, in 1799, and the 
government of the United States ordered twelve new 
regiments to be raised for the purpose of being in readi- 
ness to repel the expected attacks of France — at this 
critical posture in the affairs of our country, where do we 
find Captain Dewees, whose aged heart still burns with 
patriotic love for his country? Where do we find him? 
We find him out in service again! We find him out 
upon a recruiting expedition in a town in Wayne county. 
Pa., and situated towards the head of the Delaware river, 
at Easton, Pa., and at Elizabethtown Point in Jersey. 

Is it futile to put the language of the poet into the 
mouth of him who has so faithfully aided in gaining our 
Independence, and as faithfully assisted at all times in 
sustaining the Constitution and laws of our country? 

"Cursed be the mad wretch that shall dare to destroy, 
Our Rights which from Heaven's high God we enjoy, 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS 21 

And blasted their schemes whosoever shall strive. 

The COMPACT of Union asunder to rive. 

'Tis ours undaunted to defend 

The dear bought rich inheritance. 

And spite of each invading hand. 

We'll fight, bleed, die ! in its defence; 

Pursue our father's paths of fame, 

And emulate their 'glorious flame !' 

The foe shall fly, when the brave are lead on. 

By Freedom's pure and noble " Washington." 

Ladies, Gentlemen and Volunteer Citizen Soldiers : 

Am I done } No! The old unbroken spirit and spir 
ited soldier of '76 hears once more the bold noted cla- 
rion of war sounded aloud. The lion that long had slept 
has awoke, has aroused, is upon his feet and has 
shaken his mane and stands ready again for the combat. 
Captain Dewees at an advanced age in life buckled on 
his armor, and in 1813 and 1814, during the second war 
of Columbian Independence, made three trips or expedi- 
tions to Baltimore, one under Captain Hively, one under 
Captain Kerlinger, and one under Captain Showers. 
What? Captain Dewees a soldier of the last war } Yes! 
At the time of the invasion of the Chesapeake bay, by 
the British squadron, he was on his way to the State of 
Ohio. The news reached him when at Bloody Run, 
below Bedford, and he immediately turned him about 
and hastened him to Baltimore, where he stood one of 
the defenders of the city, at the advanced age of 55. 
Although I am a native of Pennsylvania, the Key Stone 
State in the Grand Arch of a Nation's exalted Tri- 
umph, yet proud I am to name Captain Dewees as one 
of the Defenders of Baltimore to you, the Ladies, Gen- 
tlemen and Volunteer Citizen Soldiers, of Good Old 
Patriotic Maryland and her sister States of our GLO- 
RIOUS UNION. 

At the advanced age of 55, Captain Dewees perform- 
ed the part of a musician to two regiments, and stood 
v/ith musket in hand in the entrenchments at or near 



22 INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 

Chinquepin Hill, on the nights of the 11th, 12th, 13th, 
and 14th of September, 1814. 

And now should the bold noted trunapet of war be 
sounded aloud — now would our aged revolutionary wor- 
thy step forth and home in the tented fields of his coun- 
try — and should he fall wounded there in defence of 
Liberty and Right, his animating language to his 
brother soldiers would be: Hold up your Star Span- 
gled Eagle Banner of Glory. And should he but 
survive a conquest over his country's foes, his last words 
would be: 

"Content I die — for thou art free, 
Columbia— land of Liberty." 

The same spirit possessed by Capt. Dewees we per- 
ceive was infused by his example into his son, who had 
scarcely gotton clear of the appellation of Apprentice" 
when he volunteered at Lancaster in Pa. as one of the 
brave Pennsylvanians that threw themselves between the 
invaded and invador at Baltimore in Sept. 1814, to pro- 
tect their country's rights from the powers of a ruthless 
foe, and to shield their country's eagle, stars and stripes 
from an ungodly desecration. 

Here we behold the soldier merging from boyhood to 
manhood and the aged warrior far on the journey of life 
towards decrepitude and old age meeting upon the same 
common threshhold of glory — upon the same common 
altar of their country's safety — upon the same common 
rampart of Columbia's unbroken and unyielding strength 
all potent. 

Yes! here we find father and son meeting in the same 
intrenchments, as DEFENDERS of Baltimore, the son 
receivingcounsels and the father by imparted counsels in- 
citing that son to deeds of bravery in the dark hour of trial, 
exhorting him as he valued life to stand firm at his post 
and to yield nothing that by the sacrifice of his life he 
could maintain for his country's safety and preservation 
against a despoiling foe. 

Reader could you wish to have witnessed the first 
xaeeting and first parting of father and son thus upon the- 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 23 

battle-field of their country — upon so high and impreg* 
nable an ALTAR and rampart of LIBERTY — upon 
such high and holy ground as this. Glad, yes, extreme- 
ly so would I have been to have witnessed such inter- 
views and at such a fearful crisis in the affairs of my 
country as that which existed at the time of the invasion 
by the British at Baltimore. 

After peace was proclaimed that son met as one the 
emergency which arose in our country, the Lidian war 
in Florida, he joined the standing army and marched to 
protect the frontier settlements of his country and at a 
moment when his human bosom swelled with high but 
reasonable and honorable hopes of preferment in the 
army of his country, based upon his own good and sol- 
dier-like conduct and manly bearings, he fell a victim to 
the ravages of fell disease, which event threw a sable 
pall of gloomy sorrow over the camp of his mourning 
companions in arms, and overwhelmed an aged father 
with sadness and grief insupportable when he first learn- 
ed his irreparable loss, by the announcement to him of 
the death of that son. 

'•What's hallowed ground? where heroes sleep, 
'Tis not the sculptured piles you heap, 
lu dews that heavens far distant weep, 

Their turf may bloom; 
Or genii twine beneath the deep 

Their coral tomb. 

Is't death to fall for Freedom's right ? 
He's dead alone that lacks her light ! 
And murder sullies in heaven's sight 

The sword he draws : — 
What can alone ennoble fight? 

A nobler cause ! 

What's hallowed ground? 'Tis what glides birth. 

To sacred thoughts in souls of worth ! — 

PEACE, " LOVE," INDEPENDENCE, Truth go forth 

Earth's compass round ; 
And your high priesthood shall make earth 

All hallowed ground." 



24 INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 

In producing a history of the life and services of this 
yenerable patriot, one of the few remaining revolution- 
ary arks of Republican principles, I have poverty to con-] 
tend with — poverty which is a barrier in the way of ac--: 
complishing- properly many laudable undertakings. Pov-- 
erty, all will admit, is hard to be borne, but he that has^ 
the measure of a chosen motto filled to himself, a crust' 
and peaceful Jeeiings therewith is happier than the *hap- 
piest.' I am well aware that the public is constantly peS" 
tered with applications for aid to frothy and unprofita 
ble publications of ephemeral existence, and to consent t 
to trouble the public in calls for the purpose of selling 
such, I could not be prevailed upon for any amount as a 
remuneration ; and whilst I know that the public is thus 
chafed in feeling, I have the consolation that I have em- 
barked in a laudable enterprise, one in which I have the 
good countenance, best wishes and aid of patriotic cit- 
izens and just lovers of their country, — one that requires > 
neither the hardening of the cheek, nor searing of the 
feelings, in order to progress with. Civility is a gem 
that burnishes itself, and shines brightest when set in 
contrast with that mushroom superiority and brilliancy 
so boldly delineated upon the pages of a false etiquette. 
Civility has its offspring in an established law of the 
heart. We do not expect to find civility every where, 
but we often find it where some would least expect it. 
I am a witness to the fact that it has not deserted many 
of those belonging to the various departments of men 
and women within my country. The Jack Tar, the Col- 
lier, the Butcher, the Wagoner, the laboring and w^eary 
limbed Peasant, the bone and sinew — Mechanics of va- 
rious branches, nor those whose good fortunes have 
placed them above the reach of want. Gruffness uncall- 
ed for, is often found in men and women, who ought to 
hold every other principle by profession, rather than Re- 
ligion and Patriotism — for be it said boldly, they 
have neither — and they ought rather to claim kindred 
with mewing cats and snapping dogs, than dare to in- 
sult the dignity of human nature, in presuming to put ;{ 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 25 

themselves upon an equality with the urbane, sensi- 
ble, RESPECTFUL and truly religious of their species. 
I have already met with persons whom I am ashamed of, 
and for proud and patriotic Columbia's sake, and for 
the sake of friends whose feelings I would not dare to 
wound, 1 shall suffer such to lie down and rise up ''the 
greatest among the great," unmolested by me, and will 
only exclaim: pitiful, poor fallen nature, how high 
and estimable under the guidance of a well cultivated 
and well regulated mind and heart. Thou man, thou 
woman, thou mightesthave ranked in the estimation of 
your species. Where is the consciousness of being so far 
at home within yourselves, in the possession of peace and 
harmlessness to mankind's peace, as to make you com- 
panions for the Prince of Peace at his august and all- 
glorious coming? Where? Eternally lost to you. 

I am coming, through the instrumentality of this in- 
troductory address, to set forth by the aid of truth and 
reason, the just claims of a Patriotic Father of the 
Revolutionary and Last Wars — a revolutionary fa- 
ther who has aided by hardships, privations, sufferings 
and dangers, in the establishment of the precious liber- 
ties I enjoy, in common with my country's Sons and 
Daughters of Freedom, and to whose agency, as an 
assistant in a glorious work, the rearing of a Republi- 
can light of eternal brilliancy, as the Beacon Light of 
Liberty, Freedom and Independence to and among 
the benighted nations of the earth, I feel bound with 
them to exhibit gratitude in the faithfulness of my friend 
ship. 

Since the time I commenced writing the life of Captain 
Dewees 1 have "not left a stone unturned." I have la- 
bored, I have done all I have been able to do in truth, 
and by its aid in bringing him to the notice of those 
that I hope do love their country and that cherish the ex- 
alted principles of Republicanism. Beyond truth no man 
shall know me to go in the publication of his life. I 
have visited the old gentleman often since May last, 
walking out to his residence (a distance of two miles) 
3 



26 INTRODlfCTORY ADDRESS. 

in the morning and returning in the evening. I have 
always found his mind hale and his memory of an extra- 
ordinary cast for one of his years, and a virtuous and 
faithful regard for truth has been exhibited in a remark- 
able degree by him from the first visit up to the present. 
When in health he is yet quite vigorous in body. His 
conduct is unobjectionable. I have sometimes when 
visiting him found him seated under an apple tree en- 
gaged in perusing the Bible (of which he has a large 
copy) it lying spread open upon a temporary stand 
erected by himself expressly for its reception. I am not in 
possession of means within myself to accomplish his de- 
signs. If I were, I would not labor, weary and fret my- 
self in writing to individuals (as some of the citizens 
of my country can testify) and in hoping as I have done 
upon his account. Who shall dare to say that I am 
prompted to this by possessing an interest in the work. 
As yet I possess no more interest in it than my readers. 
I have made it a labor of love from the beginning, and I 
am proud to do so. I have a spirit of patriotism, jus- 
tice and gratitude that can engender loftier motives than 
those of interest. A spirit of patriotism, justice and 
gratitude that can bear me leagues aloft — above and be- 
yond regarding pecuniary motives or interest. I have 
motives of a higher and a holier order. I wish to bless 
the old man in his latter days with comforts, peace, re- 
spect and honors — I wish to cause his past hardships, 
privations, and sufferings to be the instruments to rock 
the cradle of his declining years and as regards earth- 
ly things, I wish to aid his declining sun of life to set 
in peace. As a wife's entire support will cease with 
his life, 1 wish to fill the measure of the old man's strong 
and ardent desire that a home and a support may be 
afforded to her (after his decease) out of the proceeds of 
the publication of his life. The old gentleman draws 
two small pensions, yearly, one from the United States' 
government and one from the government of Pennsylva- 
nia. These it will at once be perceived by my readers 
will cease at his death. I have wished to preserve the re- 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS 27 

'miniscences in the past history of my country's wrongs, 
struggles, conquests and glories — that they may not lie 
buried and lost in the silence of the grave with their 
possessor. I wish to bless my Columbia by aiding in 
firing the hearts of the youth of that Columbia with the 
flow, fire, and flame of an exalted, undying and imper- 
ishable patriotism, in order that, should an emergency 
happen within my country — in order that, should a for- 
eign foe, a high-handed aggressor dare to pollute our be- 
loved soil by his foul footsteps, the youth of that coun- 
try may be better prepared in heart to step forth undaunt- 
edly as did Captain Dewees (in boyhood) and go and 
do like him ; follow the destinies of their country barefoot- 
ed (if necessary) through evil and through good report — 
in order that they may be better prepared in heart to 
make a bold stand and become not only the formidable 
but conquering foes of tyrants, and pursue them with the 
indomitablespu'it of the unconquered and unconquerable 
soldier truly, but pursue them until the dove of heaven 
shall be seen to wend her way mid the battle's din — the 
heart piercing shrieks of wounded and dying — the ocean 
of tears and high wrought anguish of survivors, and the 
petrifying horrors of a bloody and a desolating war, on her 
return with JEHOVAH'S blessing in her mouth — ready 
to spread it, the OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE and its 
healing balm over the face of a bleeding country. The 
olive branch of peace in which shall be enwrapped the still 
erect and full waving Star Spangled Eagle Banner of my 
country's exalted glory. These by the publication of 
the life, services, hardships, privations and sufferings of 
this aged veteran of the Revolutionary and last wars. 

How far I have been able to accomplish my fond in- 
tentions relative to the latter, let the work speak for me. 

A few glasses more and the sand of his patriotic life 
will have run out, and in all probability beyond the pe- 
riod of his exit from life, there will be few (if any) of 
that class, revolutionary heroes, left to us as worthy ob- 
jects of our highest respect and honors. I pronounce 



28 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 



his plaudit by stating emphatically. He is altogether 
worthy of a sacrifice being made in efforts to befriend 
him and do him honor. What you can do for this your 
country's aged son, in making friends in his cause — in 
aiding in the sale of the work, do it and receive the re- 
versional payment at an after day in beholding his influ- 
ences and counsels operating upon the hearts of your 
children — daughters as well as sons — schooling them in 
the patriotic way in which they should go — in every 
other way than in the evils, hatred of country, coward- 
ice and meanness. In beholding the effects of these 
influences tending them and others to the side of their 
country at all times — tending them and others to the 
side of her Free Institutions, her Independence, 
Prosperity, Happiness and Peace. 

Ladies, Gentlemen and Volunteer Citize?i Soldiers of 
my Columbia: 

I -now make known to you that I have written and 
published the following history, of the life and services 
of this «o-e(i veteran Father of the revolution relying 
upon you, in the sale thereof, to assist me in my designs, 
as above stated for his benefit. Shall I turn away from 
my task disappointed and disheartened? I answer, I hope 
not. Shall I state, reader I have done my part — do thine. 
Gratitude; Gratitude, Gratitude. 

In sounding the sacred name of gratitude, methinks 
she responds faithfully, softly and silently, and says : I 
hold the helm and guide the feeling, patriotic burning 
hearts of justice. I preside in the midst as the reigning 
star of brilliancy over the Patriotic, Generous and 
Free of Columbia, and as far as circumstances will per- 
mit, the Will which is Good, Patriotic and Free, 
shall be backed by Nobleness in Action. 

Will you help me in this my laudable enterprise? 
Who of the land overshadowing with eagle's 
wings? the Land of gratitude to the founder of a glo- 
rious Republic, is prepared to disregard this aged com- 
panion in arms with a Washington ? Who is prepared 
to disregard the just claims of this patriotic worthy ? 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 29 

Who are they that are prepared to deny him the free boon 
of a patriotic and generous nature, patronage to the 
amount of One Dollar? None, methinks, that are en- 
lightened, civil, patriotic, generous, free, and that are 
in circumstances to befriend him ; for the joy-lit and 
proudly animated, patriotic smiling countenances exhib- 
ited by the young daughters as well as sons, as they 
hang their ears faithfully in an ecstasy of patriotic de- 
light upon the veteran's recital of his country's arduous 
struggles and descriptions of the scenes of war — and the 
rejoicing countenances of the patriotic grave and just 
estimating old, when informed of the old soldier's rug- 
ged pathway of glory; these furnish a sufficient guaran- 
tee to me that. 

He who has stood a defence, a tri-noble shield 
For Cohimbia's Glory and Flag in the tented field. 
When he knocks at your hearts admission to gain, ' 

Shall not be repulsed, shall not knock in vain. 

In accordance with the hopes expressed, this address 
is respectfully submitted. 

JOHN SxMITH HANNA. 

Baltimore, Bid. 



H I S T a R T 



OF THE 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES: 



CHAPTER I. 



I WAS born in 1760 at Patton's Furnace situated about 
ten miles from the town of Reading, in Berk's County 
Pennsylvania. My father's name was Samuel Dewees, 
and was by trade a leather breeches maker. At the time 
of my birth however my father was master collier at the 
above named furnace. My father's family consisted of six: 
sons and one daughter, — I was the fourth child. John 
was the eldest, the rest with myself, were born in the 
order following: William, Elizabeth, Samuel, Powell, 
Thomas and David; all are dead, with the exception of 
myself and my brother Thomas, who now lives in Wayne 
County, Ohio. 

Owing to difficulties always attendant upon poverty, 
my father sought places for all of his children ; places 
where he had good reason to believe we would have- 
been treated with kindness or else he would not have 
placed us there. This seems to be a hard and sad al- 
ternative in any instance, but those having had the trials 
of poverty; who having had to contend with every species 
of poverty with which they have been rifely beset ; who 
having had to struggle against the tides of ill fortune in. 
a cold, oppressive and unfriendly world, when rearing a 
large family of small children, can best tell what a pain- 
ful trial it is to break the family ties of kindred, feeling 



32 LIFE or 

and hourly intercourse by a separation thus, at a tender 
age. My father was a stern unyielding patriot, and al- 
though a soldier by nature, — a man whose courage neith- 
er the cannon's awful roar, the battle-field's bloody car- 
nage nor yet the wounds received in battle could shake; 
was not cruel in his disposition, but upon the contrary 
very tender hearted, especially, when that heart's full How 
of humanity was taxed with the objects of suffering at 
all times when falling within the sphere of its own con- 
sciousness. 

I was nearly five years old when my father bound me 
to one Richard Lewis, a tory quaker who lived in what 
was then (and suppose is yet) called Poplar Neck in 
Berk's County, Pa., and who it will be seen possessed 
(contrary to the nature in general of that virtuous people 
denominated Friends,) but little of the milk of human 
kindness. He treated me not only with harshness and 
rigid severity but with the most brutal and wanton cru- 
elty. Cruelty which has stigmatized him and made him 
to appear to couple himself with my earliest associations 
of thoughts within my own mind in recollections as a 
demon, throughout a long life with which I have been 
blest by Almighty God. 

1 was undoubtedly, as most children are that are not 
blest with a proper culturing hand in youth — inclined to 
be mischievous and Lewis was among the last of men 
(and his wife among the last of women) to make any al- 
lowance for the abberrations of juvenile nature. He kept 
a whip constantly laid up for me, and often, very often 
used it, more to gratify a savage or fiendish and fero- 
cious disposition of heart than to correct a fault, many 
of which were very trivial in themselves. During the 
winter seasons whilst I was with him it was made my 
duty to tie up and fodder the neat cattle, to house the 
sheep, feed the hogs, cut fire wood, go to mill, &c. One 
winter night after having been in bed sometime, Lewis 
called out to me in a very surly tone " Sammy." I an- 
swered (as I was taught) " what." He then said aloudj 
did thee put in all the sheep ? I replied I did. "Thee lies 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 33 

thee dog, come down here.'' I jumped out of bed and 
put on my little sheepskin breeches and came down 
stairs ; it was a bitter cold night, the snow was fully knee 
deep to a grown person and had a crust upon it. After I 
came down stairs I was in the act of putting on my stock- 
ings and shoes when he bawled out, "No thee dog, thee 
shall go without thy shoes and stockings ;" and with a 
clout along side of my head he drove me reeling out of 
the house into the snow barefooted. I found some of the 
sheep out. After penning them up which was as quick- 
ly done as possible, I returned to the house almost fro- 
zen, my feet particularly, and with the blood trickling 
down my shins. Lewis, with a blow on my head, had 
sent me out of the house, but his work was not finished 
until now^, with another he sent me off crying to my bed, 
accompanying me on my passage thither with the epi- 
thets rascal, dog, &c. 

At another time he called out at the top of his voice 
Sammy, Sammy. I answered, what? and then neared 
him. Go, said he, and draw a pitcher of cider. I took 
the pitcher out of his hand and went down to the cellar 
and drew it full of cider, or rather more than full, for I 
could not shut the spigot; knowing what I would get, I 
w^as very much scared and ran and left the cider running 
out of the barrel and pretty fast too. I was afraid to call 
or to run and tell him of the disaster, I ran up and left the 
pitcher in the room and took french leave for the moment. 
Lewis hearing the cider running longer than necessary to 
fill the pitcher repaired to the cellar in double quick time 
and stopped it. He had no sooner ascended the cellar 
steps than he bawled out in an unusually angry tone 
(which has often since brought Cowper's priest to my 
mind.) Sammy, Sammy. I then knew the time of day and 
having no protector to fly to I had to obey the citation of 
this monster of cruelty who took down his w^hip and set 
to w^ork deliberately to plat a cracker and affix to the lash. 
This cracker he tied full of knots ordering me at the same 
time to haul off my roundabout and jacket this done h& 
set himself to w^ork to beat me. He whipped me until h© 



34 



LIFE OV 



became tired. He then stopped a short while. After 
having rested himself he then examined my back strip- 
ing up my shirt and seeing that it looked pretty well scar- 
ified already and yet not enough to glut his vengeance for 
he gave me a severe cut upon it when he had bared it and 
then bade me to begone for a rascal and do my work. Oh 
ye hellish guardians of orphans, poor and unbefriended 
children, what labor can you expect a child with a torn, 
bleeding back, and a broken and wounded spirit can per- 
form for you ? Thanks be to God the salutary laws of my 
country now a days can be brought to bear upon you, 
snug as you sometimes are in your nests of cruelty. This 
by some disinterested friend of ill used and shamefully 
abused servants and apprentices. Go hide your faces ye 
male and female monsters of cruelty with which ihe earth 
and innocence are so often cursed. 

At the time there was a shoemaker by the name of Gid- 
eon Vore, a quaker who lived in Reading but who at this 
time was at work in the house of Lewis, he remonstra- 
ted sharply with Lewis against the cruel beating which he 
gave me. Lewis not taking it well, angry words ensued 
upon both sides. Vore being a pretty resolute fellow 
backed his just spirit, and told Lewis plainly that he 
would soon see whether there was not law to be had to 
protect me against such savage usage. He put on his 
coat immediately and started for Reading. Lewis seeing 
he was determined, followed him out of the house and 
prevailed upon him to come back. I did not know upon 
what ground he succeeded in diverting him from his pur- 
pose, but suppose that he promised to Vore that he 
would not flog me so severely again. 

Among the cattle of Lewis there was one a steer, 
which had a white spot on his forehead, and I having 
found a nest full of rotten eggs in the stable conceived 
the idea (as I was letting the cattle out one morningj of 
target firing, and so setting to work, I blazed away at the 
white spot in the steer's forehead. I stood at some dis- 
tance from him and was amusing myself very much and 
proud too, that I could hit so near to the white spot as I 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 35 

did. Lewis being a looker on in Venice, beheld the sport, 
which it appeared, innocent and harmless as it was, he 
did not relish very w^ell. Not having a hand in that frol- 
ic he thought it was best for him to have one in which 
he could, and where he could show himself off as prin- 
cipal actor and master of ceremonies too. After behold- 
ing my sport of egg-shooting, he provided himself with a 
hickory weith and bawled out Sammy in a lusty manner. 
I answered, what? He cried out, come here. I went to 
him. He then said, Sammy thee has had fine sport this 
morning, and I want a little too. He then ordered me to 
strip oft" my jacket — I did so, or rather he took it from 
oft" me. He then began to play away upon me, wuth the 
hickory weith and I began to dance to its all inspiring 
music of unmerciful harhness, and so we had it until both 
became tired. If he had promised to Vore that he w^ould 
not again flog me so severely, he broke his promise now, 
for in consequence of my having to endure such an un- 
merciful flogging, at his hands, my back was well striped 
and exceedingly sore indeed. 

There was a corn-husking one night at my master's 
brothers, all in the family were invited and went but my- 
self; I wished to go, but the old man ordered me off" to 
bed; the thing troubled me so much that it appeared it 
was the whole engrossing subject within my mmd, when 
asleep. I at length arose out of my bed and started off* 
undressed to go to the husking, and fortunately was met 
more than halfway, as they were returning home again, 
which must have been well on towards daylight. They 
took hold of me and found I was asleep. This was the 
first knowledge I had of my having been asleep, after 
which I was very cold. 

At another time when I was engaged in driving the cat- 
tle out of the stable, there was one that I was much 
plagued with, for I could not get it from the stable door, 
I picked up a piece of a knot of wood and let slip at it 
and knocked it down; my mistress seeing this took after 
me cudgel in hand and yelling like a savage, I off* with- 
out the w^ord go, and streaked it into a rye field for shel- 



36 LIFE OF 

ter. I heeled it through the rye which was then in blos- 
som, and she tried to heel it too, but "couldnt coiiie it ;" 
once and a while I would pop my head above the rye in 
order to see where the old vixen was, and when I per- 
ceived that she in her course or tacking was likely to 
overhaul me I would slide into another point of the com- 
pass, and ensure the safety of my person thereby. I had 
ray sport in fooling her until almost night, for I was de- 
termined not to surrender to petticoat government or 
authority in that instance. Not being willing to return 
to the house that night, I pushed off in search of quarters 
which I obtained, for I billetted that night in a neighbor's 
barn and was without a supper. Next morning my 
master's son came after me, the owner of the barn under- 
standing that I was there talked with Lewis' son about 
me, and made him promise that I should not be whipped; 
upon this condition I capitulated and went home with 
him, but if I did, I went trembling every step of the road; 
this because I knew something of the characters I had 
to meet. When we arrived I was about to "catch it,"' 
but young Lewis plead with his mother for nearly an 
hour ere she waived her intention, she very reluctantly 
agreed to bury the hatchet for a time and so I escaped 
punishment at that time — she might have agreed sooner 
to have let me slip, for nothing was more easy than to 
have given me two wdiippings at one and the same time.^ 
thereafter, a game which she could play and which I un- 
derstood very well, but was satisfied with the armistice 
established on thai occasion. This will not be wonder-] 
ed at, as it is natural for persons, particularly youths, to 
put off the evil day as far as possible in the future. 

How admirably fitted are all the providences of God 
to emergencies falling out, unto us in life — one such a 
providential deliverance, I must here note ; I was sent 
one day to carry dinner to my master's son where he 
Avas ploughing in one of the fields of the farm. When I 
had gone to the distance of two or three hundred yards 
from the house, I was met by a large boar belonging to 
Boston Murrier, who was one of our neighbors. The 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL BEWEES. 37 

boar advanced towards me with bristles ei^ct, and run* 
ning, sideways as is the attidude of battle among hogs; 
when I would stop, he would stop and champ and froth 
like a prancing charger would his bridle-bit. When 
I would endeavor to go on (for I had a hope, that I could 
have reached a fence not very far off) he would run side- 
ways after me. I contended with him in this way for some 
time, but found it impossible to reach the fence ; I then 
dropped my basket, containing the dinner, ajid had the 
hope that as I w^ould run towards the house, he would 
have stopped to devour the contents thereof, and let me 
go. I started at full speed for the house and seeing my 
master's daughter at the wood-pile, I called aloud to 
her. The boar however did not stop to taste its con- 
tents but ran after me, overtook and threw me down. — 

Mrs. called to my master who was then in the 

house. They both ran accompanied by a large dog and 
succeeded in taking him off me, but not until he had 
sunk his tusks into my back so that a finger might have 
been thrust through into my inside. They succeeded 
w4th the help of the dog in catching him, which when 
they did my master, wiih a large stone broke off his tusks 
and some of his teeth and then let him run. The belief 
w^as that had not help been thus afforded me, he would 
have torn me to pieces, and had it not been that my mas- 
ter's daughter was at the time at the wood-pile, I might 
have cried in vain, ere help would have been extended 
to me. This woman was married and lived in Reading, 
but was on a visit to her father's at the time — she was 
quite another kind of woman when compared with her 
mother — she was always very kind to me when on visits 
to her father's, and upon this occasion manifested her joy 
in my rescue, and was very tender to me in my then in- 
jured and helpless state. Lewis sent Murrier word that 
if he still would permit the boar to run at large, he would 
shoot him wherever found. Murrier put him up to fat- 
ten, which no doubt secured the person of others from 
bis fierce attacks thereafter. 
Whilst I remained in the family of Lewis another ac- 
4 



38 LIFE OF 

cident befel me which came near ending my life; it hap- 
pened in hay harvest ; we were engaged in hauling hay 
and whilst taking in the last load into the barn, a son- 
in-law of Lewis' drove the wagon wheels over a stump, 
which pitched mc off head-foremost against a rock and 
with such violence as to crack my skull. I was much 
injured by this accident for a time and must attribute it 
in a great measure to my own carelessness and contempt 
of danger, for, after I had finished building the hay upon 
the wagon, I laid me down upon my back on the top of the 
load, an act that no persons in their senses should at any 
time be guilty of. It is fair and not unreasonable to 
state, that a great proportion of accidents fatal and other- 
wise are the resultsof carelessness, which is to say in other 
words, not exercising the rational powers of mind pos- 
sessed, in order to obtain a forecast as to what is really 
prudent and right or what is imprudent, wrong and most 
profoundly ignorant and foolish in the extreme. 

Servitude w^ith these cruel-hearted people was very 
irksome to me. When I look back upon the scenes 
of hardships I was made to endure, the continual scold- 
ings meted out to me, and the unmerciful corrections I 
received at their hands, I can but liken myself to a per- 
son in the midst of a den of rattlesnakes, afraid to move 
in any one direction for fear of encountering the venomous 
fangs or bite of those having the power over me. My 
cloathing was of the coarsest cast. I recollect, that when 
linen collars and wristbands were put u|3on my coarse 
tow-linen shirts, I was very proud indeed. In eating I 
was often the subject o^pot luck. Lewis had a nephew 
that lived with him some time and his victuals like mine 
were often "begrudged," as the saying is. This lad was 
perhaps eighteen years old, I remember that the old man 
lectured him occasionally upon the art of eating. One 
day the old man was lecturing his nephew upon eating, 
trying perhaps, to break my back over the shoulders of 
the nephew, said he to his nephew, "thee should always 
quit eating and rise from the table hungry." Indeed 
uncle (said the nephew) I always eat until I am full and i 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES, 39 

then I like to take a good chunk of pie with me in my 
fiist, to eat after that again, by way of a finish to my 
meal as a topper out. 



CHAPTER II. 

**In 1773, committees of correspondence were organ- 
ized in Massachusetts, and at the instance of the Virgin- 
ia House of Burgesses, '^standing committees" were, cho- 
sen throughout the colonies, and by means of a frequent 
conference, each colony was put in possession of the 
determinations of the whole. Meetings of the people 
were frequently held and the "SONS of LIBERTY" ev- 
ery where were alive to the interests of the colonies and 
were up, active and doing. 

The duty imposed by the King and Parliament of Great 
Britain upon the colonies with reference to the article of 
tea, the people regarded as a flagrant and wanton as- 
sumption of power upon the part of the Ministers, Par- 
liament and King of Great Britain. 

The people ov/ned themselves subjects of the Crown, 
but, stibjects with constitutional rights; and they could 
not concede to any body, the right of infringino; upon 
those rights, without their own unqualified assent thereto. 

Large quantities of tea had been consigned to different 
points in the colonies. The people of Philadelphia and 
New York refused to purchase or to accept of it, on any 
terms. They "sent the ships back to London and they 
sailed up the Thames, to proclaim to all the nation that 
New York and Pennsylvania would not be enslaved. 
The people of Charleston unloaded the tea and stored 
it in cellars where it perished." 

The people of Boston acted differently, they utterly re- 
fused to receive it, and a large number of the citizens 
habited as "Mohawk Indians" went aboard of the ves- 



40 LIFE OF 

sels, broke open the whole number of chests containing 
the tea and cast it overboard. The surface of the waters 
in the vicinity of the wharves and for some distance out 
was literally coated with drifting tea. 

In September of the next year, 1774, the meeting of 
the first Continental Congress took place at Philadelphia, 
in order to concert measures for the better protection 
of the colonies against the arbitrary encroachments of the 
King, Ministers and Parliamentof Great Britain and the 
governors of the crown in each of the colonies. 

General Washington (then styled Colonel) sat in that 
first Congress when it assembled, as a deputy from the 
colony of Virginia. 

This choice concentration of much of the best intel- 
lectual powers and deep wisdom of the colonies, it would 
seem aimed not firstly at Independence. That body, with 
that humbleness which still characterized the members 
thereof and the people of the colonies whom they repre- 
sented as loyal subjects of his Majesty the King of Eng- 
land, voted a series of resolutions touching the grievan- 
ces they were enduring. It voted a declaration or Bill 
of Rights, exhibiting the causes that led to the stand 
which the colonies had took from the beginning of the 
difficulties, and set forth in a lucid and unsophisticated 
manner their rights as colonies, and the protection that 
those rights claimed for them as citizens at the hands of 
their sovereign. It voted a number of addresses by way 
of appeals. It also petitioned the King for a redress of 
grievances, and whilst those resolutions, declaration of 
rights, addresses, petitions, &c. &c., were "pronounc- 
ed by competent authority," to have been "master pie- 
ces" of the age in "wisdom, dignity," lofty, patriotic 
strength and sublimity of language and "moral courage," 
the Ministers and Parliament, with the King at their head, 
blinded by their avariciousness and rage, looked upon 
and conceived them to be nought but tirades of insult, 
impudence and the sheerest nonsense. 

Mr. Frost states that the determination upon the part 
of the people of New England was that their course 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 41 

should be such that in the event of hostilities breaking- 
out, the royal party should be the aggressors. But in 
the event of such a disasterous state of things existing 
their determinations were to act as one, upon the defen- 
sive, and repel in the strength of their might any hostile 
attack that might be made by the royal forces against 
them. 

The colonists had collected some military stores at 
Concord (a place situated 18 or 20 miles from Boston,) 
to destroy which a detachment of royal forces had been 
despatched by the royal Governor and were under the 
command of Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn. This 
royal force was met and opposed by the aroused citizens 
at Lexington, and a number killed and wounded on both 
sides. This battle, denominated the "battle of Lexing- 
ton," was the first battle of the revolution. 

The British forces after the continental militia gave way, 
(the militia costituting a small body compared with "800 
grenadiers and infantry" whom they opposed) pursued 
their design, and moved on to Concord for the purpose 
of destroying the military stores. 

The continental militia rallied again, joined by others 
of the citizens that flew to the assistance of their con- 
tinental brothers and marched to Concord. The loy- 
alists opened a fire upon the colonists and a general 
engagement look place. The royalists were beaten 
and put to the route. This engagement constituted the 
second battle of the revolution. The royalists were pur- 
sued by an annoying fire and whilst enduring this, three 
regiments under the commmand of General Lord Percy 
came to their aid ; reinforced thus they plundered and 
fired the town of Lexington and a number of houses 
were consumed. 

At West Cambridge the colonists were joined by the 
noble Warren, and also by General Heath, and the mi- 
litia encouraged by their presence poured in upon the 
royalists a very destructive fire and contlned to dog them, 
hanging on their sides and rear in their flight. The re- 
inforcement under Lord Percy formed itself into a hollow 
4* 



42 LIFE OF 

square. The fugitives, says a British historian, when 
they were received into it, lay down on the ground with 
their tongues hanging out of their mouths like dogs after 
a chase. 

It would appear there was neither skill nor judgment 
thrown away by the colonists in their use of fire arms. 
Their just anger in their willing forbearance was long- 
under the curb, but when it burst its fetters asunder, it 
descended like a mighty torrent upon the guilty heads 
of their inhuman oppressors. Their aim in the field was 
a deadly one. 

" Liberty, from whose imperial eye. 

Unfettered limb, and step of majesty. 

Perpetual sunshine brightens all the air. 

When undisturbed by man — in wrath is there I 

And prostrate armies now, are kneeling round, 

They see the rolling clouds I they hear the sound 

Of pealing thunders ! while her martial form 

Lightens tremendous in the gathering storm ! 

They breathe that buoyant mountain atmosphere. 

And kindling in their eyes those lights appear, — 

Those (jufnchless lights ! — that despots, tyrants dread 

When man comes forth in might, and lifts his head 

Sublime in desperation ; when they hear 

The song of trumpets bursting on their ear! 

The shock of armies ! and, afar, behold 

Rebellion's crimson standard all unrolled f 

When slaves are men — are monarch^ — and their tread 

Comes like the resurrection of the dead ! 

Man bursts his fetters ! shakes his sheathless sword — 

Stands on his grave, and battles with his lord 

For sepulture or freedom — eye to eye — 

And swears to live his equal, or to die, 

Li glorious martyrdom — to glorious LIBERTY. 

Then let the trumpet of the battle sound! 

Then let the shuddering challenge peal around f 

*Till all our ruffled eaglets start and wake — 

And scream aloud — and whet their beaks — and shake 

Their guardian wings, o'er mountain, wood, and lake ? 

The blast will but disturb the spirit there; 

But rouse the she wolf from her bloody lair; 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 43' 

But wake the fiery — harnessed multitudes : 

The dark battalions of untrodden woods; 

Whose viewless chiefs shall gird their armor on. 

And lighten o'er the fields their valor won ; 

'Twill waken echoes in that solitude, 

Less welcome than the panther's cry for food; 

Less earthly — than the voices heard, when night 

Collects her angels on some stormy height. 

And airy trumps are blown ! and o'er the heaven 

Ten thousand fearful challenges are given !" — Jolm JSeal. 

These successful movements at once placed both par- 
ties in a posture of open war, the bravery of the colonial 
troops on these occasions gave great promise of efficient 
usefulness, in the expected future operations of the col- 
onists in the battlefields of their country. The first step 
of the colonial Congress was to view with a scrutinizing 
eye, the conduct of the colonial troops in these battles, 
by an examination of the whole affair. Their conclu- 
sions were that the colonists had acted strictly upon the 
defensive, — that intrenching themselves behind their 
owm natural and acquired rights — rights, that no law, 
upon the principles of justice could in any way interfere 
with, should be faithfully supported at all hazards. Con- 
gress at once gave to these latter movements upon the 
part of the unorganized provincial troops, the stamp of 
their most hearty approval, and set itself about to devise 
means whereby they could back their whole course by 
bringing the whole strength of the country to a speedy 
operation in their favor. 

The second step of Congress was to raise an army 
by making a levy for 30,000 men on the colony of New 
England. A great part of these levies speedily repaired 
to camp in order to join in besieging Boston. The bat- 
tles of Lexington and Concord had the effect to arouse 
the spirit of the people to avenge the death of their un- 
offending and slaughtered brethren. Troops in a scat- 
tering manner were constantly pouring in from all quar- 
ters. Truly, the motto of, dont tread upon me w^as not 
urged upon the sons of Liberty in vain. ^'•God and our 



44 LIFE OF 

country^'' could be heard uttered with determined pathos 
by many who possessed undaunted spirits, but heaving 
bosoms. "Wife, children and friends," and that dear 
hut our home. 

"There blend the ties that strengthen 

Our hearts in hours of grief, 

The silver links that lengthen 

Joy's visits when most brief; 

There eyes in all their splendouTj 

Are vocal to the heart, 

And glances, gay or tender, 

Fresh eloquence impart. ? 

Then dost thou sigh for pleasures !" 

Or fear on battle fields to "roam," 

Go guard thj' country's treasures, 

Liberty ! Friends and Home. 

Go, Soldier, and battle nobly 

For God, for country and thy home, 

Go bless time's latest posterity. 

Nor fear, on battle fields to roam. 

/. S. Hanna. 

The brave Colonel Ethan Allen with a detachment of 
"Green Mountain boys," was joined by a detachment 
of Connecticut troops at Castleton. A portion of these 
troops under Allen immediately marched to invest Fort 
Ticonderoga. Allen with an unprecedented celerity of 
action, made himself master of that fortress without fir- 
ing a gun. When the continental troops advanced lo 
the entrance a sentinel snapped his piece at Allen, who, 
followed by his brave troops, drove him in from his post, 
and so quickly did Allen and his men enter the fortress 
that time was not allow^ed to the commander of the gar- 
rison to get out of his bed. Colonel Allen in a peremp- 
tory manner demanded of him a surrender of the fortress. 
The commander in quailng accents asked Allen by what 
authority he demanded it.-^ Allen replied, "in the name of 
the GREAT JEHOVAH and the continental Congress." 

The British ofhcer believing that it would be the height 
of folly and madness to attempt to oppose such a deter- 
mined and commanding a man as Allen, under existing 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 45 

circumstances, thought it but an act of great prudence 
to surrender quietly, and install the inexorable Allen in- 
to his new office of commander of the garrison. 

As soon as the balance of the detachment arrived which 
had been unable to join in its capture, for want of a suffi- 
cient number of boats to transport them across the lake, 
Colonel Allen immediately placed it under the command 
of Colonel Seth Warner, and ordered it on to an attack 
of Crown Point. This post was captured also without 
firing a gun. To these successes were added the cap- 
ture of a sloop of war on Lake Champlain, by Captain 
Benedict Arnold, in command of a small schooner which 
he had rigged and fitted out for the purpose. 

By these daring descents upon their enemies the conti- 
nental troops became possessed of upwards of'one hun- 
dred pieces of ordnance," and other "munitions of war," 
these brilliant achievements inspired the colonial troops, 
the Congress of the colonies and the people with the most 
profound courage. Yes! truly, did they in their all po- 
tent magistracy become the terror of evil doers and the 
praise of them that did well. 

The continentals and royalists had frequent skirmish- 
ing engagements, in which the former were generally vic- 
torious. 

Among the most illustrious of that day were those two 
eminent patriots and able statesmen, John Hancock and 
Samuel Adams, the proscribed "Sons of Liberty." — 
Governor Gage by proclamation constituted martial law 
the supreme law of the land, and oifered a free pardon 
to all, except the two gentlemen above named, who would 
evince their former predilections for and allegiance to the 
crown of Great Britain. 

Whilst New England was made the theatre of mon- 
archical depredations and vengeance, other colonies were 
not exempt from the destructive strides of despotism. — . 
The people of the colony of Virginia, upon governor 
Dunmore's arbitrary enactments and actions, arose ia 
the patriotic strength of their might, and kicked the roy- 
al civil government in the colony into the shake. Which 



46 ' LIFE OF 

government never was again resumed within the limits ; 
of her territory. 

South Carolina and North Carolina, took the same 
patriotically noble and successful steps, and produced I 
the same glorious results, by hurling in their majestic 
omnipotence, the royal authority fom the pedestal of liber- 
ty and trampled it under their sovereign feet within their 
respective provinces. Others of the colonies were fast 
preparing for the contest — for the issue, they waited for 
a favorable moment when they could depose a monarch 
so unprincipled, — so cruel and deaf to the sweet and I 
captivating voice of humanity — to the supreme dictates 
and mandates loud of sovereign justice; waited in anxious 
suspense for that auspicious moment, when they could j 
dethrone him forever in America." 

Hannahs Glory of Columbia, 

"Events occuring this year, in the southern colonies, , 
still farther weakened the attachment of the people to ' 
Great Britain. In Virginia, Lord Dunmore, the Gov- 
erner, seized by night some powder belonging to the' 
colony, and conveyed it on board a British ship in James i 
river. Intelligence of this transaction reaching Patrick: 
Henry, he placed himself at the head of the independent: 
companies in his vicinity, and marched towards the seat: 
of government with the avowed purpose of obtaining, ,' 
by force, restitution of the powder, or its value. He was i! 
met by a messenger, who paid him the value of the pow- 
der, when he and the miltia returned to their homes." 

Hales^ United States. 

"A fearful crisis was approaching. No ! It was already 
existing ; accompanied with all the fearful forebodings of: 
the future darkness, thick darkness brooded over the face 
of the land. Already, were they a people scattered andi 
peeled and trodden down under the unhallowed feet offi 
tyranny. Thick as was that darkness and unhappy as> 
were the sorrows that it occasioned, still, there was a vis- 
ta, all hallowed and glorious, as the bright rainbow ofl 
promise in this impenetrable cloud of black and bloody/ 
hue. A rainbow that illuminated the storm — that light- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 47 

ed.up the pathway of the virtuously brave — that braced 
and cheered the hearts of the Sons of Liberty in midst of 
the melting scenes of unparalleled horror. 

Through that vista of glory beamed the beacon-star of 
republican brilliancy. The lofty light set upon an hill, 
Heaven's guide to the benighted nations of earth — the 
lofty full blazing fire of an imperishable and everlasting 
patriotism, planted, full waving upon the high dome of 
the Grand Temple of Liberty, wdiose immoveable basis 
eternal, was the immutable Throne of the Most High 
God. 

Although at first the colonies were for a redress of 
grievances by petitioning the king of Great Britain. — 
They w^ith a becoming humiliiy sent petition after petition 
until hope sickened and turned aside to weep at the in- 
gratitude and inhumanity of man — until peace wdthin the 
colonies was sacrificed upon the infernal altars of injus- 
tice, which had been reared by the persecuting oppress- 
ors of the innocent for her desecration and destruction. 
Had the things petitioned for by the colonists been grant- 
ed to them, they w^ould have then returned, as they had 
all along determined to do, to their first love — they would 
have possessed that strong attachment to the j)erson of 
the king, which they had so repeatedly manifested, and 
their allegiance would not have been less, than they had 
always paid to him, as their acknowledged sovereign. 
Still their petitions having been set at nought, they were 
now prepared to seek a redress of all their endured 
wrongs by a spirited, determined and noble appeal to 
arms. Fear in the bosoms of many of the patriotically 
brave provincials became dethroned. War's loud cla- 
rion had already taken her stand upon the high summit 
of the mountain of wounded honor, and loud had she 
blown the bold notes of freedom, and the issues of w^ar 
had no terrors for them. Already had the Goddess of 
Liberty commanded the tocksin to sound to arms, to 
arms, your country calls. Already had the bright and 
swift angelic heralds of true liberty began to descend 
from the immaculate Throne of Jehovah, chaunting Co- 



48 * LIFE OF 

lumbia's mighty paeans until the heavens resounded aloud 
and the echo thereof had become lost in illimitable fields 
of that Jehovah's eternity of space. Already had the an- 
gelic heralds of freedom taken their stand, ready tobursttl 
forth from the throne of glory in heaven, to descend to 
earth, to sing in lofty and sweetest strains, the grand ju- 
bilee of Columbian Freedom. On every hill could be 
heard the spirit-stirring fife and drum, playing and beat- 
ing an appeal to arms* 

Many of the colonists done early homage to the immac- 
ulate God of the illustrious republican city of true liberty, 
set upon a lofty eminence, and began to speak aloud what 
before had been breathed in the secret chambers of repub- 
licanism's earliest dawn. They began to speak forth bold- 
ly their (then) speculative views upon the propriety and 
practicability of establishing an independent government 
upon the principles of self-government — a government 
whose basis should be, an equal and just representation 
in its administration within the colonies." 

Hannahs Glory of Columbia. 

"Now, now the dangerous storm is rolling, 

Which treacherous kings confederate raise; 

The dogs of war, let loose, are howling. 

And lo ! our fields and cities blaze. 

And shall we basely view the ruin. 

While lawless force with guilty stride. 

Spreads desolation far and wide. 

With crimes and blood his hands imbruing. 

To Arms! To Arms ! ye brave ! ,. 

Th' avenging sword unsheath : 

March on, JNIarch on, all hearts resolv'd 

On victory or death." 

"Patrick Henry, deservedly styled the 'Demosthenes of 
America,' a patriot of the most sterling worth, became 
the advocate for resistance to the arbitrary enactments of 
the parliament and king of Great Britain. In every 
popular assembly he harangued the people on the pror 
priety and justice of their resisting with arms in hand. 
This will be seen by the following extract." 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 49 

[An extract from Patrick Henry's speech in the con- 
vention of the Delegates of Virginia, March 1775, upon 
a resolution for organizing the militia.] " And it may be 
observed here, that Patrick Henry would have made the 
Hall of Independence in Philadelphia ring with the same 
strain of bold and native eloquence in the Congress of 
1776, had he not been elected Governor of Virginia." 

Mr. President, — The gentlemen who are opposed to 
our resisting with arms the aggressions of Great Britain, 
tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with so for- 
midable an adversary. But sir, when shall we be strong- 
er? will it be the next week, or the next year? will it be 
when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard 
shall be stationed in every house? shall we gather strength 
by irresolution and inaction : shall we acquire the means 
of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, 
and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our 
enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? 

Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those 
means which the God of nature has placed in our power. 
Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of lib- 
erty, and in such a country as Ihat which we possess, 
are invincible by any force which our enemy can send 
against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles 
alone. There is a just God who presides over the na- 
tions, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles 
for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is 
to the vigilant, the active, the brave. 

Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base 
enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the 
contest. 

There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery ! 
our chains are forged! their clanking may be heard on 
the plains of Boston! the war is inevitable; and let it 
come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! it is in vain, sir, to 
extenuate the matter. Grentlemen may cry, peace, peace ; 
but there is no peace. The war is actually begun ! the 
next gale that sweeps from the north, will bring to our 
ears the clash of resounding arms ! our brethren are al- 
> 5 



50 LIFE OF^ 

ready in the field ! why stand we here idle ? what is it 
that gentlemen wish ? w^hat would they have ? is life so 
dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of 
chains and slavery ? forbid it heaven ! I know not w^hat 
course others may take : but as for me, give me liberty, 
or give me death !" 

"True, with many the language of the scriptures seem- 
ed literally verified, *'men's hearts failing them with fear." 
Those that possessed noble daring had more to fear from 
the pusillanimous — the disaffected — from the tories, than 
they had to fear from their enemies. Tories, who aided 
and abetted the royalists in every possible shape, and in 
nothing did they betray a more reckless or hellish spirit 
than in their being the conductors of the British in their 
midnight descents upon the unsuspecting whig inhabi- 
tants, and upon a sleeping soldiery. These were the 
enemies they stood in most danger of, for they were 
their most implacable foes. 

In this alarming state of affairs within the colonies, 
the provincial army, although headed by men of the most 
exalted bravery and acknowledged worth, was without a 
proper commanding head to superintend its operations. 

The mighty men of valor, members of Columbia's ga- 
laxy of superior talent assembled in Congress at Phila- 
delphia, turned them about to look for one of noble dar- 
ing, who might possess the qualifications necessary to 
lead the armies of America. A number of men of un- 
daunted bravery and tried skill in the field, w^as spoken 
of in Congress and out of it, but no determined action 
was had upon the subject — because, no doubt the time 
of a superintending Providence had not yet arrived. 

There was one, however, in whom many of the peo- 
ple of the colonies had the fullest confidence — one school- 
ed in the army of his country — one well acquainted with 
arts of war, and the manner of traversing the wilderness 
wilds of Ajiierica — one who afterwards proved that dec- 
laration to be altogether a true one, that, declared that 
he possessed not only in an eminent degree the neces- 
sary requisites for a general, but every qualification of 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 51 

mind, heart and soul to enable him to take charge (as an 
instrument in the hands of the Great Supreme) of the fu- 
ture destiny of his country, and lead her by a succession 
of brilliant triumphs to the port of confederacy of states 
and to that of a republican empire. This great unknown, 
was none other than the heaven gifted, gallant, brave 
and virtuous Colonel George Washington of Virginia, 
then a delegate and member of the continental Congress 
— Colonel George Washington, in whose hearing was 
read (a number of years previous to the war) from a Lon- 
don newspaper, in a coffee house, in the city of New 
York, a paragraph predicting that if hostilities should 
break out between the mother country and the colonies, 
Colonel George Washington of Virginia would be chosen 
commander-in-chief of the armies of the colonies. This 
was the man and none other, that was designed as the 
leader, saviour and first Father of his country. A group 
of collossal figures occupied the front ground of the choice 
of many, but in the back ground — the ground of retiring 
modesty, there stood the lofty, beautiful and most state- 
ly tree of vernal bloom, within the wilderness of a nation's 
greatest and most painful perplexities. There stood the 
gallant, accomplished and experienced Washington. 

Colonel George Washington was at length proposed 
in Congress, he w^as nominated by Mr. John Adams and 
seconded by his cousin Mr. Samuel Adams, the proscrib- 
ed patriot friend of his country. Colonel Washington 
being fairly before that body his pre-eminent and superi- 
or qualifications and claims were pressed upon it with 
patriotic ardor, and chasteness, and richness of language 
by a number of the most gifted members of the differ- 
ent colonies. Among them, how^ever, none occupied a 
loftier ground, or delivered his sentiments wuth more ar- 
dent zeal, strength, eloquence and beauty of language 
than did that sterling patriot Mr. John Adams. The 
patriotic John Adams, who made the Hall of Inde- 
pendence in the Statehouse at Philadelphia, ring with 
the eloquence of his appeals, as well upon this as upon a 

1 



52 LIFE OF 

subsequent occasion, when pleading in favor of a speedy 
declaratioa of American Independence." 

From Hannahs Glory of Columbia. 
"On theUtb of June, 1775,'* Colonel George Wash- 
ington "was unanimously chosen general, and com- 
mander-in-chief of the armies of the united colonies, and 
all th€ forces now raised, or to he raised by them."* 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

The following account of the appointment of General 
Washington to the supreme command of the continental 
army, June 14th, 1775, has been placed in our hands by 
a gentleman in whose veracit) we have full confidence. 
We cannot doubt the authenticity of the anecdotes he 
gives. This subject has of late years been brought before 
the public under various versions, and has in every shape 
attracted attention. The private journal is narrating a 
conversation with John Adams, senior, before that great 
and good man was called to his final rest. The relation 
is more in detail than that w^hich has hitherto been made 
public, but it substantially corroborates the former ver- 
sions of the causes which led to the appointment of 
Washington. Lest we should in any way affect the 
anecdote, we give it in the words of the narrator. 

The army was assembled at Cambridge, Mass., under 
Gen. Ward, and Congress was sitting at Philadelphia. 
Every day, new applications in behalf of the army arriv- 
ed. The country was urgent that Congress should le- 
galize the raising of the army; as they had, what must 
be considered, only a mob, a band of armed rebels. — 
The country was placed in circumstances of peculiar diffi- 
culty and danger. The struggle had begun, and yet 
every thing was without order. The great trial now 
seemed to be in this question — Who shall be the com- 
mander-in-chief? It was exceedingly important, and was 
felt to be the hinge on which the contest might turn for 
or against us. 

♦See Marshall's life of Washington. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 53 

The Southern and Middle States, warm and rapid in 
their zeal for the most part, were jealous of New Eng- 
land, because they felt the real physical force was here; 
what then was to be done? All New England adored 
Gen. Ward: he had been in the French war, and went 
out laden with laurels. He was a scholar and a states- 
man. Every qualification seemed to cluster in him ; and 
it was confidently believed that the army could not re- 
ceive any appointment over him. What then was to 
be done ? Difficulties thickened at every step. The 
straggle was to be long and bloody. Without union, 
all was lost. The country and the whole country must 
come in. One pulsation must beat through all hearts. 
The cause was one, and the army must be one. The 
members had talked, debated, considered and guessed, 
and yet the decisive step had not been taken. At length 
Mr. Adams came to his conclusion. The means of re- 
solving it were somev»^hat singular, and nearly as fol- 
lows: he was walking one morning before Congress hall, 
apparently in deep thought, when his cousin, Samuel 
Adams, came up to him and said — 

'What is the topic with you this morning?' 
^'Oh the army,' he replied. *I'm determined to go 
into the hall this morning, and enter on a full detail of 
the colonies, in order to show an absolute need of taking 
some decisive step. My w^hole aim will be to induce 
Congress to appoint a day for adopting the army as the 
legal army of these united colonies of North America and 
then to hint an election of a Commander-in-Chief.' 

'Well,' said Samuel Adams, 'I like that, cousin John; 
but on whom have you fixed as that Commander ?' 

' I will tell you — George Washington, of Virginia^ a 
member of this house.' 

'O,' replied Samuel Adams quickly, 'that will never 
do, never.' 

'It must do, it shall do,' said John, 'and for these 
reasons — the Southern and Middle States are about to 
enter heartily in the cause ; and their arguments are po- 
tent! they say that New England holds the physical 
5* 



54 LIFE OF 

power in their hands, and they fear the result. A New 
England army, a New England commander. New Eng- 
land perseverance all united, appal them. For this 
cause they hang back. Now the only course is to allay 
their fears, and give them nothing to complain of; and 
this can be done in no other way but by appointing a 
Southern chief over this force, and then all will rush to 
the standard. This policy will bind us in one mass, 
and that mass wdll be resistless.' 

At this, Samuel Adams seemed greatly moved. They 
talked over the preliminary circumstances, and John ask- 
ed his cousin to second the motion. Mr. Adams went 
in, took the floor, and put forth all his strength, in the 
delineation he had prepared, all aiming at the adoption 
of the army. He was ready to own the army, appoint 
a commander, vote supplies, and proceed to business^ 
After his speech had been finished, some doubted, some 
objected, and some feared. His warmth increased with 
the occasion, and to all these doubts and hesitations he 
replied — 

^Gentlemen, if this Congress will not adopt this army 
before ten moons have set. New England will adopt it, 
and she will undertake the struggle alone — yes, with a 
strong arm, and a clean conscience, she will front the 
foe single handed.' 

This had the desired effect. They saw New England 
was neither playing, nor to be played with. They agreed 
to appoint a day. A day was fixed. It came. Mr. 
Adams went in, took the floor, argued the measure, and 
after some debate, it passed. 

The next thing was to get a commander for his army, 
with supplies, &c. All looked to Mr. Adams on the oc- 
casion, and he was ready. He took the floor, and went 
into a minute delineation of the character of General 
Ward, bestowing on him the encomiums which then be- 
longed to no one else. At the end of the eulogy he said, 
*-But this is not the man I have chosen.' He then went 
rnto the delineation of the character of a Commander- 
ia-Chief,, such as was required by the peculiar situation: 



CAPTA.TN SAMUEL DEWEES. 50 

of the Colonies at this juncture. And after he had pre- 
sented the qualifications in his strongest language, and 
gave the reasons for the nomination he was about to 
make, he said — 

'Gentlemen, I know these qualifications are high, but 
we all know they are needful at this crisis in this chief. 
Does any one say they are not to be obtained in this 
country ? In reply I have to say they are ; reside in one 
of our own body, and he is the person whom I now 
nominate — 

George Washington, of Virginia.' 
Washington, who sat on Mr. Adams^ right hand, was 
looking him intently in the face, to watch the name he 
was about to announce, and not expecting it would be 
his, sprang from his seat the minute he heard it, and rush- 
ed into an adjoining room. Mr. Adams had asked his 
cousin Samuel to ask for an adjournment as soon as the 
nomination was made, in order to give the members time 
to deliberate, and the result is before the world. 

I asked Mr. Adams, among other questions, the fol- 
lowing : 

' Did you ever doubt of the success of the conflict ?' 
* No, no,' said he, 'not for a moment. I expected to 
be hung and quartered, if I was caught; but no matter 
for that — my country would be free ; I knew George III. 
could not forge chains long enough and strong enough, 
to reach round these United States..' 

"Our Eag>e shall rise, 'mid the whirlwinds of war. 

And dart throuo;h the dim cloud of battle; his eye 

Shall spread his wide wings o'er the tempest afar, 

O'er spirits of valor that conquer or die. 

And ne'er shall the rage of the conflict be o'er. 

And ne'er shall the warm blood of life cease to floWi 

And still 'mid the smoke of the battle shall soar 

Our Eagle — till scattered and fled be the foe. 

When peace shall disarm war's dark brow of its frown^ 

And roses shall bloom on the soldier's rude gravcj 

Then honor shall weave of laurel a crown 

That beauty shall bind on the brow of the brare..'" 



56 LIFE OF 

" Washington being specially commissioned by Con- 
gress, a resolution was unanimously adopted in that body 
pledging itself to maintain and adhere to him, through- 
out in the new relation in which he then stood, relative 
to the forces then raised or that might afterwards be rais- 
ed for the expulsion of the British from their soil, or ne- 
cessary to maintain, preserve and perpetuate the liberties 
of the " United Colonies." As a backing of this admir- 
able pledge, they also pledged "their lives and their for- 
tunes." 

Washington lost no time in making preparation for 
entering upon a discharge of the "arduous duties" of the 
weighty, and important trust conferred upon him by the 
continental Congress. He hastened to Cambridge, in 
Massachusetts, the then Head Quarters of the colonial 
army. 

The colonial troops, a thousand strong, were lead "on 
the evening of the i6th of June, to Breed's instead of 
Bunker's Hill. Colonels Stark and Preston, accompanied 
by Captain Knowlton were the conductors of this detach- 
ment — encouraged by the repeated presence and aid of 
that gallant old officer General Putnam, they succeeded 
in fortifying themselves behind entrenchments, which they 
threw up by the break of day. "A ship of war and sev- 
eral floating batteries lying near" aided by a fortification, , 
which had been erected on Copp's Hill at Boston — be- 
gan to pour their fires upon them, which, instead of intim- 
idating them or causing them to desist therefrom, only 
served to redouble their exertions. This, with the ad- 
dition of 500 men as a reinforcement, gave to them 
quite a formidable appearance. 

This bold and unprecedented step of the coloniall 
troops, not only astonished and terrified their invaders, 
but encouraged them so much that Governor Gage, im- 
mediately set him about to devise means by which he 
could dislodge them from so strong a position. 

Towards noon, the British commander detached ai 
body of upwards of 3000 grenadiers and light infantry, , 
under Generals Howe and Pigot which were immediately 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



57 



landed on a peninsula in Charlestown. General Gage- 
ordered the town of Charlestown to be fired. The British 
marched up the hill for the purpose of destroying the 
American works, but the Americans reserved their fire 
until " within ten rods" of the works. They then com- 
menced a destructive fire upon the assailants, mowing 
them down almost in companies. The British, who were 
at that moment moving up at a furious charge, quailed,, 
recovered and fired, and then retreated under a galling 
fire from the works of the provincials. 

The British officers by threats and persuasions suc- 
ceeded in getting their troops to march up the hill again 
to the charge. The fire of the provincials was reserved 
until they arrived much nearer than before. They then 
'-Het loose'''' upon them and tumbled them over in greater 
numbers than in the preceding ascent. Scared by such 
an awful reception, they retreated down the hill agreeing 
better with " a dog trof than a walk, leaving their com- 
mander Howe far up the hill and nearly alone — he think- 
ing it bad policy to remain a single and unprotected tar- 
get, scampered off after them. 

- General Clinton reinforced the assailants and succeed- 
ed in rallying the troops again. In this third trip up 
the hill it is asserted with confidence, (although the mea 
were styled invincibles) that the British officers pushed 
them upward by going behind them w^ith swords, to jag 
them forward with their points as ox-drivers often do^ 
their oxen, by means of a sharp nail drove into the butt 
end of the ox-goad. 

The ammunition within the works becoming exhaust- 
ed, nothing remained for the provincials but to "silently" 
await the nearing of the British columns. The provin- 
cials not having been provided with bayonets gave them 
the best reception in their power, which was the butt 
ends of their muskets. Being overpowered, however, 
by a superior force well provided with ammunition, bay- 
onets &c., they effected a retreat to Charlestown Neck. 

This contest was altogether an unequal one. The pro- 
vincials did not exceed 1500, whilst that of the royalists. 



58 •life of 

exceeded 3,000. The provincials lost between 4 and < 
500 killed and wounded, and the royalists nearly 1100. 
Here was exhibited the truth of the declaration, that 
thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just, and leads 
to a repetition of the question, 

" What is to be compar'd. 

To the matchless sinew of a single ARM 

That strikes for LIBERTY." 

In this conflict many valuable provincial officers and 
men perished, among them that deservedly popular, able 
and courageous patriot General Warren. 

Mr. Marshall states that "for the purpose of a more 
distinct arrangement, the army" had been "thrown into 
three grand divisions." "That part of it which lay 
about Roxbury, constituted the right wing, and was com- 
manded by Major General Ward ; the troops near Mys- 
tic or Medford River formed the left, which was placed 
under Major General Lee. The centre, including the 
reserve, was under the immediate command of General 
Washington, whose head quarters was at Cambridge." 

The British occupied Boston until the spring of — 76. 
General Washington had fortified himself in a snug man- 
ner — 'SO as to command the town of Boston, by erecting 
a fortification on the night of the 4th of March. Gener- 
al Howe endeavored to dislodge him, his design how- 
ever failed, which rendered it imperative with him, that 
of the evacuation of Boston. Mr. Frost states, that the 
British were not annoyed in their slow embarcation and 
for this reason, that, they would have been provoked 
to burn the town, a "loss which would have required 
years of profitable industry to repair." By the 17th of 
March, the embarcation was ended and "their fleet sail- 
ed for Halifax." It appears that a threat had been made 
by the British commander to that effect. This being the 
case none could possibly censure Washington, especial- 
ly when nothing could have been gained by an attack at 
that particular time. 

An expedition was fitted out during the fall of 1775 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 59 

against Canada, the command of the army engaged there- 
in was given to Brigadier General Montgomery. 

Col. Ethan Allen, aided by Major Brown, made a spir- 
ited attack on Montreal. With a small force they oppos- 
ed a far greater number of British and "fought with 
desperate valor. Unable to cope with a force so much 
greater than his own, Allen was forced to surrender. 
Allen after his capture was loaded with chains, and sent 
to England there to undergo his trial as a "factious re- 
bel." 

Several victories were the offspring of this expedition 
to Canada. Fort Chamblee was captured and with it 
the Americans became possessed of a number of pieces 
of "cannon," and 120 barrels of powder." 

In the main, however, the expedition was a failure ; 
the* lives of many valuable men and soldiers as well as 
officers were sacrificed. The brave and accomplished 
Richard Montgomery fell before Quebec. It was said 
that when Montgomery bade an adieu to his wife, he 
observed to her in the last words of his parting, "you 
never shall have cause to blush for your Montgomery." 
General Montgomery was a native of Ireland, he had 
settled in New York, where he "married an American 
lady." 

In the spring of 1776, several of the colonies, by means 
of their assemblies, expressed their sentiments in favor 
of independence, and instructed their delegates in the 
general Congress, to propose to that respectable body 
to declare the united colonies free and independent states." 
Haima's Glory of Columbia. 

On the 7th of June, Richard Henry Lee, one of the 
delegates from Virginia, brought the great question of 
Independence before the house, by submitting the follow- 
ing resolution : ^'■Resolved, That these united colonies 
are, and of right ought to be free and independent states ; 
that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British 
crown, and that all political connexion between them and 
the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dis- 
solved." 



60 • LIFE OF 

This resolution was postponed until the next day, wheri 
it was debated in committee of the whole. On the 10th. 
it was adopted by a bare majority of the colonies." 

{Goodrich's Lives of Signers of Declaration of Independence.'] 

About the beginning of June the British fleet under 
the command of Admiral Sir Peter Parker, appeared be- 
fore Charleston in South Carolina; and on the 28th oi 
June, "10 ships of war" on board of which were 3,000 
troops under the command of Sir Henry Clinton, borei 
up and commenced bombarding Fort Moultrie on Sulli- 
van's Island. Col. Moultrie and General Marion, and 
their brave companions in arms, in all not more than 500^ 
men, gallantly defended it, and drove the 10 sail of the( 
line to the distance of two miles from the fort. 



THE LAST BALL; 



OR, THE SIEGE OF FORT MOULTRIE. 

BY H. P. E. 

On the forenoon of the 28th of June, 1116, during ourij 
struggle for independence, while Col. Moultrie and his5 
regiment were engaged in completing the fort which they 



of Charleston harbor, an officer on the island, wearing the 
American uniform, appeared to be intently scanning the 
distant horizon with his dark piercing eyes as if endeav- 
oring to scrutinize the form of some object that loomed ■ 
like a frog bank on the very verge of the vast expanse 
of waves which rolled at his feet, ever and anon, curling 
their rippling surf unheeded over his military boots, so 
deeply was his attention absorbed in the contemplation' 
of the distant and obscure object. Shading his eye with 
his right hand, he darted a searching glance towards 
that point of the horizon, but so great was the distance 
that the naked eye could as yet, discern nothing dis- 
tinctly — dazzled as it was with the light sunbeams danc- 
ing on the crest of the blue waves, creating a thousand! 
mimic rainbows. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. - 61 

'* Malvern my glass," exclaimed he to an orderly near 
him, who entering a tent returned almost immediately 
with a field telescope. The officer impatiently snatched 
it from him, and adjusting the focus, directing it towards 
the evidently approaching object. Scarcely however 
had he done so ere a joyous "Hurrah !" burst from his 
lips, and the glass fell upon the sand. " Sail, ho ! sail, 
ho!" shouted the officer, and as the echo died away 
some three or four others, all bearing the American uni- 
form, sprang to his side with the simultaneous exclama- 
tion of " where ?" Hastily directing the attention of his 
companions, the drums immediately beat to quarters; si- 
lently each soldier took his post, and the heavy guns of 
Fort Moultrie loomed black and grim from their palmet- 
to embrasures. 

"•Ha! Moultrie, 'tis as I thought," said an officer, 
addressing one who stood near him, with the familiarity 
of a brother soldier, "yonder come the British fleet, com- 
manded by Parker and Clinton. Our palmetto fort will 
have its toughness well tried to day, for by the number 
and size of their vessels, this will be no boy's play." 

."Yes, Marion, 'tis as you say," answered Moultrie, 
lowering his glass ; "the banner of St. George waves 
proudly to the breeze, and I count near forty vessels in 
all. Heaven grant our stars and stripes may float as 
proudly from our liltle fort at the end of the contest as 
they do now ; it will be a warm day's work, and many 
a brave fellow will sleep his last sleep ere 'tis over. — 
What say you. Sergeant Jasper? You're an old hand 
at all these things." 

"Aye, sir, that 't will," replied Jasper, touching his 
3ap with true military precision, "and Colonel, if I might 
ask a favor, it would be to command a gun near w^here 
the flag stands, for some of our green hands may be 
scared out of their senses by the noise and crashing, nor 
2ven think of sticking the flag up again if it's shot down ; 
land if there's a panic among our recruits, the day's gone." 

"He says well, Marion," said Moultrie ; "ray brave 
feliow, your request is granted and in delivering our ban- 
6 

I 



62 ' LIFE OF 



ner to your care, I need not fear it will be sullied by hos- 
tile touch." 

^'No ! Colonel Moultrie, I have not served under yoi 
so long to turn coward at last. Your flag must float ii 
victory from Fort Moultrie, or serve as a winding sheet 
for Jasper," said the veteran, looking aflfectionately a 
the flag, and wiping a tear from his eye with the corne 
of the bunting. 

" Nobly said, my brave Jasper, and a more glorious 
winding sheet you could'nt have," replied Marion, whild 
his dark eye flashed fire as he cast a glance to the parape; 
where the stars and stripes were floating proudly to tht 
same gale, which was bearing ihe Red Cross of St 
George swiftly towards the shore. 

Gallantly came on the hostile fleet, and as one vesse 
after another loomed into sight, their clouds of snow- 
white canvass, lofty tapering spars, and the huge blacl! 
eno-ines of destruction that lined their ports, surmounted 
by that haughty flag which *' had braved a thousand 
years the battle and the breeze," raises even in the breasti 
of that band of devoted heroes, a feeling of alarm, noi 
for themselves, but for Charleston, whose beauty anc( 
wealth were now committed to their charge. Onward 
came the hostile vessels, the sea-foam dashing from theii 
bows, and every sail set to catch the breeze, till, as ii 
by magic, gracefully and silently they fell into position: 
their sails were quickly furled, and their gloomy broad-l 
sides brought to bear point blank on the fort. The hea-joi 
vy guns of the fort at that moment launched forth a sheei ' 
of flame from the embrasures, and the iron storm hurled 
through the air, cracking and splintering the hostile ships 
and destroying all that opposed its deadly path. As ihtk 
smoke cleared away, the foretopmast of one of the enep 
my's vessels was observed to be shot away, and several 
seamen w^ere engaged in clearing the wreck. Now en-: 
sued a moment of anxious suspense, as the defenders ol 
the fort waited to receive the hostile broadside. A streamn 
of fire burst from the port holes of the ships, and they) 
poured in their tremendous broadsides on the fort. At 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 63 

iarge forty-two pound shot entered one of the embrasures, 
iismounthig a gun, killing two men who stood beside 
^t, and struck the opposite wall of the fort. With this 
exception, the fire caused trifling damage, for the green 
;)almetto, composing the outer wall of the fort, was not 
splintered by the shot, but the wood opening received 
the balls which buried themselves in the sand — filling 
jp the space between the outer and inner palmetto walls 
Df the fort, (about 18 feet.) 

"At them again, my lads," shouted Moultrie; "point 
^'our guns lower,*^and don't throw a shot away." 

The guns of the fort were in an instant sponged, charg- 
ed, and pointed; and again at the word "fire," thunder- 
id forth their iron storm with more effect than at first. 
The guns being pointed lower, every shot told upon the 
lulls of the vessels, dashing through their bulwarks and 
knocking two port holes into one. The ball from the 
run pointed by Sergeant Jasper, struck the foot of Sir 
?jeter Parker's bowsprit, shattering it to pieces, and 
hrowing the splinters in every direction — one of which 
striking the second Lieutenant, killed him on the spot, 
rhe fight had now become general ; the hostile ships 
,vere completely enveloped in thick clouds of smoke, 
rom which almost incessantly a stream of lurid flame 
Ivould burst forth succeeded by the crashing of the can- 
;ion balls against the palmetto walls, beyond which they 
■lid little injury, except such as entered the embrasures, 
)r being fired over the sea-w^all of the fort, struck against 
;he inner sides of the opposite wall, wounding and kill- 
ing our soldiers in the rebound. 

, The guns of the fort answered well; so long as the 
immunition lasted, an incessant sheet of flame flashing 
rom the embrasures, and the heavy forty-two pound shot 
>f the Americans tore through the British vessels, de- 
troying every thing in its course, and covering the decks 
vith dead and dying. Sir Peter Parker's vessel, the 
Bristol, was completely riddled by shot, and the blood 
)oured from the scuppers in streams. During the hot- 
est of the fight a twenty-four pound shot from the Bristol 



64 



LIFE OF 



carried away the Aiiierican flag, and shattered the staff 
to pieces. A shout was set up by the British, but as the 
colors fell, Sergeant Jasper caught them in his arms — 
then fixing them on the point of his bayonet, he leaped 
upon the breastwork amid a volley of grape shot and dri- 
ving the point of the bayonet into the palmetto wood, 
pinned the colors to the fort. A shout arose from the 
Americans at this daring feat, when Jasper, taking off 
his hat, waved it towards the enemy exclaiming "Liber- 
ty and my country forever." 

"Victory, my brave," shouted Sergeant M'Donald, 
waving his sword, when at that moment a thirty-twoi 
pound shot entering one of the embrasures, dismounted 
a gun, and glancing, struck him in the breast, leaving] 
him almost a mangled corpse, with the unfinished words: 
yet upon his lips. "When about to expire" in a few 
moments after, "he lifted up his dying eyes and said "my 
brave countrymen, I die, but don't let the cause of Lib- 
erty die w^ith-me." 

"Marion," said Moultrie, "the day is ours; if our am- 
munition only lasts, we shall sink every ship before the: 
fort." 

"Yes," replied the latter, "we shall do it, if our mem 
only point their guns properly." 

Marion now went through the fort pointing every guii 
himself that he possibly could ; not a shot was thrown 
away, and the British, finding they could make no im- 
pression on the fort, terrified by the number of their 
wounded and slain, and dreading the excellence of the 
American gunnery and the appalling effect of our heavy 
metal, just after sunset began to ship their cable and 
move off in a crippled and disordered state. 

A shout of victory burst from the American troops, 
as the cheering intelligence was announced — doubly 
cheering indeed, from the fact that our ammunition was 
now almost exhausted, and it would have been impossi- 
ble much longer to have held the fort against the tremen- 
dous broadsides which were continually poured in. 

Clarion and Moultrie met. No word was spoken, but 



Captain samuel dewees. 66 

the silent and hearty pressure of the hand, and the look 
of joy which illumined their swarthy countenances, black 
with smoke, and begrimmed with powder, showed how 
responsible had been their trust, and how thankful they 
were for this happy result. 

"And now for the last gun — a parting kiss to Sir Pe- 
ter," shouted Marion; "come, Jasper, your gun is just 
under our flag, and opposite the Bristol, load carefully 
with a ball, and let me have the honor of giving him our 
last weighty argument. I doubt not it will impress upon 
him, at any rate, a conviction that our metal is heavy, 
and our gunnery quite satisfactory for troops so inexperi- 
enced." 

Jasper now carefully loaded the huge forty-two pound- 
er, which Marion as carefully pointed toward the Bris- 
tol ; perceiving, however, that she was veering round, 
and that a fev/ seconds would bring her stern in point- 
blank range with the gun, he determined to wait till that 
event took place, for the purpose of effectually raking 
her. 

At this moment two midshipmen on board the Bristol, 
wearied with the fatigue of the engagement, and sick- 
ened by the horrid scene of slaughter around them, stood 
on the quarter deck. 

" Come, Frank, the dance is over, and the ball finish- 
ed, so let's descend and see if there's any wine in the 
locker^ for this fighting's confounded dry work," ex- 
claimed one to the other. 

"With all my heart, Harry. I'm dry as a powder mag- 
azine — thirsty as a sponge and in the best possible humor 
for pouring out a libation to the god of battles, which, 
instead of wasting on the ground, according to the prac- 
tice of the ancients, I shall pour down my throat pursuant 
to the more pleasant and economical practice of the mod- 
erns." 

The two friends descended ; wine and glasses were 

produced, and bumpers filled. " Well, Harry, after all 

this hard fighting, being cooped up for some hours to be 

made the target of excellent ball practice, and our ship 

6* 



66 LIFE OF 

riddled like a seive, to show the proficiency of rebel gun- 
nery, here's a toast I give with right good will : God 
save the king, and confusion and defeat to the Yankee 
reb— " 

The sentence was never finished, for at that moment 
the stern of the Bristol came in direct range with the gun 
pointed by Marion, who was waiting, port-fire in hand, 
for the proper moment of discharge. The match was ap- 
plied, a sheet of flame burst from Ihe embrasure followed 
by the deafening roar of the immense piece. The ball, 
true to its mark, sped forth on its destined path, crash- 
ing through the Bristol's stern, at the moment the toast 
was given by the midshipman, (and as their glasses were 
hobnobbing, preparatory to drinking it,) dashed the glas- 
ses into atoms, left the two friends ghastly and mutilated 
corpses, thence passing through the bulkheads and steer- 
age, struck down two seamen and a lieutenant of marines 
who were standing by one of the forward guns, burst 
through the bows of the ship. 

Such was the last shot fired at the siege of Fort Moul- 
trie. 

"Raise the flag of freedom high. 
Loose its folds and let it fly. 
Let it wave o'er laud and sea. 
Emblem of the BRAVE and FREE. 
Let it wave o'er spire and dome 
And o'er the freeman's happy home. 
Although released from death they be. 
In coral grave or cemetry. 
Let it wave iii peace and war. 
O'er the soldier and the tar. 
Although in peace they rest from harm> 
Until the bugle sounds the alarm. 
Let it ware o'er the smiling plain. 
Wave it o'er the boundless main. 
Wave it o'er blest COLUMBIA'S shore. 
Until time shall be no more." 

Supposed speech of John Adams in favor of the Dec- 
laration of Independence. 

"Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 67 

my hand, and my heart, to this vote. It is true, indeed, 
that in the beginning, we aimed not at Independence. 
But there is a divinity which shapes our ends. The in- 
justice of England has driven us to arms; and blinded 
to her own interest, for our good she has obstinately per- 
sisted, till Independence is now within our grasp. We 
have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. 

Why then should we defer the Declaration ? Is any 
man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with 
England, which shall leave either safety to the country 
and its liberties, or safety to his own life, and his own 
honor? Are not you, sir, who sit in that chair; is not 
he, our venerable colleague, near you ; are you not both 
already the proscribed and predestined objects of punish- 
ment and vengeance ? Cut off from all hope of royal 
clemency, what are you, what can you be, while the pow- 
er of England remains, but outlaws ? If we postpone 
Independence, do w^e mean to carry on, or to give up, 
the war? Do we mean to submit to the measures of 
parliament, Boston port-bill and all ? Do we mean to 
submit, and consent that we ourselves shall be ground to 
powder, and our country and its rights trodden in the 
dust ? I know we do not mean to submit. We never 
shall submit. Do we intend to violate that most solemn 
obligation ever entered into by men, that plighting, be- 
fore God, of our sacred honour to Washington, w^hen 
putting him forth to incur the dangers of w^ar, as well 
as the political hazards of the times, we promised to ad- 
here to him, in every extremity, with our fortunes and 
our lives ? I know there is not a man here, who would 
not rather see a general conflagration sweep over the 
land, or an earthquake sink it, than one jot or tittle of 
that plighted faith fall to the ground. For myself, hav- 
ing, twelve months ago, in this place, moved you, that 
George Washington be appointed commander of the for- 
ces, raised, or to be raised, for the defence of American 
liberty, may my right hand forget her cunning, and my 
tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or 
waver, in the support I give him. The war, then, must 



68 LIFE OF 

go on. We must fight it through. And, if the war must 
go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence ? That measure will strengthen us: it will give 
us character abroad. The nations will then treat with 
us, w^iich they never can do while we acknowledge our- 
selves subjects, in arms against our sovereign. Her pride 
will be less wounded, by submitting to that course of 
things, which now predestinates our Independence, than 
by yielding the controversy to her rebellious subjects. 
The former she would regard as the result of fortune ; 
the latter she would feel as her own deep disgrace. Why 
then, why then, sir, do we not, as soon as possible^ 
change this from a civil to a national war? And since 
we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state 
to enjoy all the benefTts of victory, if we gain the victo- 
ry ? If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall 
not fail. The cause will raise up armies; the cause will 
create navies. The people, the people, if we are true 
to them, will carry us, and will carry themselves, glori- 
ously through this struggle. I care not how fickle oth- 
er people have been found. I know the people of these 
colonies, and I know, that resistance to British aggres- 
sion is deep and settled in their hearts, and cannot be 
eradicated. Every colony, indeed, has expressed its will- 
ingness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the Dec-* 
laration will inspire the people with increased courage. 
Instead of a long and bloody war for restoration of privi- 
leges, for redress of grievances, for chartered immunities^ 
held under a British king, set before them the glorious 
object of entire Independence, and it will breathe into 
them anew the breath of life. 

Read this Declaration at the head of the army ; every 
sword will be drawn from its scabbard and the solemn 
vow uttered, to maintain it, or to perish on the bed of 
honor. Publish it from the pulpit ; religion w^ill approve 
it, and the love of religious liberty will cling round it, 
resolve to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to the 
public halls ; proclaim it there ; let them hear it, who 
heard the first roar of the enemy's cannon; let them see 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 69 

it, who saw their brothers and their sons fall on the field 
of Bunkerhill, and in the streets of Lexington and Con- 
cord, and the very walls will cry in its support. 

Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs ; but I 
see, I see clearly through this day's business. You and 
I, indeed, may rue it. We may not live to the time when 
this Declaration shall be made good. We may die ; die 
colonists ; die slaves ; die, it may be, ignominously, and 
on the scaffold. Be it so ; if it be the pleasure of heaven 
that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, 
the victim shall be ready, at the appointed hour of sacri- 
fice, come w'hen that hour may. But, while I do live, 
let me have a country, or at least the hope of a country, 
and that a free country. But, whatever may be our fate, 
be assured, that this Declaration shall stand. It may 
cost treasure, and it may cost blood ; but it will stand, 
and it will richly compensate for both. Through the 
thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the 
future, as the sun in heaven. We shall make this a glo- 
rious, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, 
our children will honor it. They w'ill celebrate it with 
thanksgiving, w^th festivity, w-ith bonfires, and illumina- 
tions. On its annual return, they will shed tears, copi- 
ous, gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of 
agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude, and 

Sir, before God, I believe that the hour is come. My 
judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is 
in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I 
hope, in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; 
and I leave off, as I begun, that," live or die, survive or 
perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living senti- 
ment, and, by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying 
sentiment. Independence 7iow, and Independence for 

EVER." 

Reader, such were the men that laid the foundation of 
our mighty Republican Empire of Freedom, Liberty and 
Independence Such w^ere the men that battled, sustain- 
ed, and maintained in an unparalleled manner the true lib- 



10 



LIFE OF 



erties of their country by the mighty exercise of moral, 
intellectual, patriotic and physical strength. Such men 
as these were the mighty men of valor. Do you love, 
cherish and laud their memories ? 

Great exertions were made by the friends of Liberty 
in Congress to proclaim Liberty to captives — to declare 
the colonies, Free and Independent. 

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, 
Roger Sherman and Philip R. Livingston, members of 
the continental Congress, were appomted a committee 
to draft a Declaration of Independence. Each member 
of the committee agreed to draft a Declaration. They 
did so, but upon their next meeting, it being proposed 
that Thomas Jefferson should read his first, the other 
members so well satisfied with his, adopted it forthwith, 
and withheld their own. What a pity that such docu- 
ments as those, although w^ithheld at the time had not 
been preserved and handed down to posterity as original 
fac-similies, (which they in their bearings would have 
been in the main,) copies of the one presented to Con- 
gress and which that body finally adopted. 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 

^s promulgated at the ^^ Hall of Independence'^'^ in the 
State House at Philadelphia^ on July the Ath, 1776. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes ne- 
cessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with another, and to assume, 
among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal 
station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God 
entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind 
requires that they should declare the causes which im- 
pel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident : that all men 
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Crea- 
tor with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to se- 
cure these rights, governments are instituted among men, 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 71 

deriving their jusf powers from the consent of the gov- 
erned ; that whenever any form of government becomes 
destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to 
alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, 
laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing 
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely 
to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, 
Avill dictate, that governments long established should 
not be changed for light and transient causes ; and, ac- 
cordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are 
more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than 
to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they 
are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and 
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces 
a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is 
their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, 
and to provide new guards for their future security. — 
Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies ; 
and such is now the necessity which constrains them to 
alter their former systems of governments. The history 
of the present king of Great Britain, is a history of re- 
peated injuries and usurpations, all having, in direct ob- 
ject, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these 
states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid 
world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the mast wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governours to pass law^s of im- 
mediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in 
their operation, till his assent should be obtained ; and 
when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to 
them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accom- 
modation of large districts of people, unless those peo- 
ple would relinquish the right of representation in the 
legislature, a right inestimable to them, and formidable 
to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places un- 
usual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of 
their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing 
them into compliance with his measures. 



72 'life of 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for 
opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the 
rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative 
powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the 
people at large, for their exercise, the state remaining, 
in the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion 
from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these 
states ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for natura- 
lization of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encour- 
age their migration hither, and raising the conditions of' 
new appropriations of land. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by 
refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary pow- 
ers. 

He has made judges dependant on his will alone, for ; 
the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment 
of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
hither swarms of officers, to harass our people, and eat 
out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing 
armies, without the consent of our legislatures. 

He has effected to render the military independent of^J 
and superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a juris- 
diction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged 
by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretend- 
ed legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among 
us : 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punish- 
ment, for any murders which they should commit on 
the inhabitants of these states : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial 
by jury: 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES, 



73 



For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pre- 
tended offences : 

For abolishing the free system of English laws. in a 
neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to rend- 
er it at once an example and fit instrument for introduc- 
ing the same absolute rule into these colonies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most 
valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of 
our governments : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all 
cases whatsoever* 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us 
out of his protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt 
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries, to complete the works of death, desolation, 
and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cru- 
elty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in 'he most barbar- 
ous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized 
nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive 
on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to 
become the executioners of their friends and brethren, 
or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and 
has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our fron- 
tiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose kn^wn rule of 
warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, 
sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppression?) we have petition- 
ed for redress in the most humblp terms : our repeated 
petitions have been answered o-ily by repeated injury. 

A prince, whose charact^^' is thus marked by every 
act which may define a tv^ant, is unfit to be the ruler of 
a free people. 

Nor have we bee« wanting In attentions to our British 
7 



'74 LIFE or 

brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of 
attempts by their legislature lo extend an unwarrantable 
jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the 
circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. — ■ 
We have appealed to their native justice and magna- 
nimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our 
common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which 
would inevitably interrupt our connexions and corres- 
pondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of jus- 
lice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acqui- 
esce in the necessity which denounces our separation, 
and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies 
in war, in peace, friends. 

W^e, therefore, the representatives of the United States 
of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing 
to the Supreme Judge of the world, for the rectitude of 
our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of 
the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and 
declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be free and independent states ; that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and 
that all political connexion between them and the state 
of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; 
and that, as free and independent states, they have full 
power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, 
establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things 
which independent states may of right do. And for the 
support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the 
protectlo^ of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to 
each other cur lives, our fortunes, and our sacred hon- 
ours. 

JOHN HANCOCK, President 

New Hampshire. Robt^t Treat Paine, Samuel Himtin^ton. 

Josiah Bartlett, ^^^'"^^"^ Gerry. William Williams,' 

William Whipple. R}u>de J>^nd, &c ^^'''*'' Wolcott. 

Matthew Thornton. g^^^he,, Hopki... ^.,„, j^/c 

Massachusetts Jiay.. William Ellery. William Lloyrl. 

Samuel Adams, Connecticut. Phillip Livingston, 

John Adams, Roger Sherman, wfs'Morru!' 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



75 



Neto Jersey. 
Richatd Stockton, 
John \Vilhci>po()n, 
Francis Hopkinsoa, 
John Hart, 
Abraham Clark, 

Pennsylvania. 
Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, " 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 
James Smith, 
Geori^e Taylor, 
James Wilson. 
George Ross. 



Delaware. 
Cesar Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas M'Kean. 

Maryland, 

Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, 
Thomas Stone, 
C, Carroll, of CarroUton, 

Virginia. 

George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Kelson, jr. 



Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina. 
William Hooper, 
Joseph Plewes, 
John Penn. 

South Carolina. 

Edward Rutledge, 
Thomas Hayward, jr. 
Thomas Lynch, jr. 
Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. 

Burton Gwinnett. 
Lyman Hall, 
George Walton. 



'' The Declaration of American Independence was 
hailed on its delivery at Philadelphia on the 4th of July, 
1776, with every demonstration of joy, and at every point, 
within the colonies the people received it gladly and 
pledged themselves to stand behind the acts of their del- 
egates in Congress, and sustain them in the strength of 
their united mights. Fathers, mothers, sisters and broth- 
ers hailed it as a glorious epoch in the history of their 
country. 

" The mighty psens of the free ascended upon the 
swift winged winds of Columbia towards the immutable 
throne of an eternally free God, and re-echoed in their 
assent the most lofty and happy gratitude of the milita- 
ry and other citizens of the infant Republic. 

" This all-glorious and imperishable state paper, pos- 
sessing the full flow and fire of an exalted, undying patri- 
otism, as it does, constituted the holy fire with which the 
hearts of every freeman, was fired anew in their noble 
struggles in the sacred cause of freedom within the united 
colonies." — Hannahs Glory of Columbia. 

1st. " To Liberty's enraptured sight, 

AVheii first Columbia's region shone; 
She hail'd it from her starry height. 
And smiling ciaim'd it as her own — 



76 * LIFE OF 

'• Fair land, the GODDESS cried, be free ! 
Soil of my choice! to fame arise !" 
She spoke, and heaven*3 minstrelsy, 
Sweird the loud chorus through the skies.. 
All hail, forever great and free, 
Columbia — land of Liberty ! 

2d. Columbia's genius heard the strain. 

And proudly raised his drooping crest; 
His sons impatient fill'd the plain, 
While panted high eaeh patriot breast. 
Their fetters they indignant spvirn'd; 
They waved their faulchions high in air. 
And where the Goddess' altar burn'd. 
From kneeling warriors rose the prayer— 
To die be ours, if thou art free, 
Columbia— laud of Liberty. 

Sd. War blew her clarion loud and long. 
Oppression led his legions on : 
To battle rushed the patriot throng. 
And soo-n the glorious day was woa — 
Each bleeding freeman, smiPd in death 5 
Flying he saw his country's foes. 
And wafted by his latest breath. 
To heaven the cheerful paan rose — 
Content I die— for thou art free : 
Columbia — land of Liberty ! 

-1th. And shall we ever dim the fires 

That flames on freedom's hundred shrinks? 

Shall glory's children shame their sires.'' 

Shall cowards spring from heroes' loins ? 

No — by the blood our fathers shed. 

Oh freedom ! to thy holy cause ; 

When streaming from the martyred dead. 

It seal'd and sanctified the laws — 

We swear to keep thee great and free I 
Columbia— laud of Liberty » 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 77 



CHAPTER IV. 

Upon the 1)1 caking out of the revolutionary war my 
father enlisted as a recruiting sergeant in the conti- 
nental army. At the time of my father's enlistment he 
lived in Reading, Pa. Sometime after his enlistment, 
he enlisted my two oldest brothers, John and William, 
and when he had enlisted a pretty good company of sol- 
diers, he moved on and joined his regiment. Shortly 
afterwards he fought at the battle of Long Island. My 
mother and my two brothers accompanied him in this 
expedition to the north. In this battle the American 
loss was very great. The American troops, however, 
fought as bravely as at any battle during the war of the 
revolution. 

^' In the beginning of July, Admiral and General Howe 
arrived in the harbor of New-York. They were accom- 
panied by a powerful naval force, and by an army of twen- 
ty-four thousand men, abundantly supplied with military 
stores. The troops were landed on Staten Island, a 
position from which ulterior movements could most con- 
veniently be made. 

General Washington, presuming that the first attack 
would be made upon the posts at Brooklyn, strengthen- 
ed it by a detachment of troops from the city, and gave 
the command of it to General Putnam. On the 22d of 
August, the British forces were landed on the opposite 
side of Long Island. The two armies were now about 
four miles asunder, and were separated by a range of hillsj 
over which passed three main roads. Various circum- 
stances led General Putnam to suspect that the enemy 
intended to approach him by the road leading to his right, 
which he therefore guarded with most care. 

Very early in the morning of the 26th, his suspicions 
were strengthened by the approach, upon that road, of 
a column of British troops, and upon the centre road, of 
a column of Hessians. To- oppose these, the American 
troops were mostly drawn fram theif camp, and in the 
7* 



78 LIFE OF 

engagements which took place, evinced considerable i 
bravery. 

These movements of the enemy were but feints to di- 
vert the attention of Putnam from the road which led to 
his left,, along which General Clinton was silently ad- 
vancing with the main body of the British army. The 
report of cannon in that direction gave the first intimations 
of the danger which was approaching. The Americans, 
endeavoured to escape it, by returning, with the utmost 
celerity, to their camp. They were^not able to arrive 
there in time, but were intercepted by General Clinton,, 
who drove them back upon the Hessians. 

Attacked thus in front and rear, they fought a succes- 
sion of skirmishes^ in the course of which many were 1 
killed, many made prisoners, and several parties, seiz- I 
ing favourable opportunities, forced their way through 
the enemy, and regained the camp. A bold and vigor- 
ous charge, made by the American General, lord Ster- 
ling, at the head of a Maryland regiment, enabled a large ] 
body to escape in this manner. This regiment, fighting 
with desperate bravery, kept a force greatly superior en- 
gagedy until their comrades had passed by, when the 
jfew who survived, ceasing to resist, surrendered to the 
enemy. 

The loss of the Americans, in killed, wounded, and 
prisoners, considerably exceeded a thousand. Among 
the latter were Generals Sullivan, Sterling, and Wood- 
hull. The total loss of the enemy was less than four 
hundred. They encamped at night before the American 
lines ; and the next day began to erect batteries within 
six hundred yards of their left. 

While the battle was raging. General Washington 
passed over to Brooklyn, where he witnessed, with in- 
expressible anguish, the destruction of his best troops^ 
from which, such was the superiority of the enemy, it J 
was impossible to save them. Finding the men dispir- 
ited by defeat, he determined to remove them to the city. 
The retreat was effected, on the night of the 28th, with ' 
such silence and despatch, that before the suspicions of 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 70, 

the enemy were excited, the last division of boats was 
beyond the reach of their fire." — HaWs United States. 

WASHINGTON AND THE YANkEE BOY. 

[The following revolutionary story, while it exhibits the 
spirit of our young raen in the war for independence, 
shows also the discrimination and prudence of Wash- 
ington. It is copied from the Olive Branch, published 
in Boston, and edited with ability.] 
When en a tour to the West, I met with the subject 
of this treatise atUtica, N. Y. The grateful remembrance 
of the soldier of the Revolution by our country, became 
the subject of conversation. After there had been an 
interchange of opinion among us, Mr. Bancroft observed 
that he had applied to Congress for a pension, but ow^ino- 
to the circumstance that his name w^as stricken off the 
roll before he had served nine months, to serve General 
Wahington in a more hazardous relation, he could not 
obtain it ; though he thought his circumstances and his 
claims for consideration were as great as any soldier's. 
He then related the following history of his life r 

"I was born in Woburn, north of Boston. At the ap-e 
of fourteen w^as sent to Boston and put behind the count- 
er. I was warmly attached to the Whig cause, and at 
the age of sixteen was obliged to leave the town. I then 
enlisted in the army as a soldier for three years. I stu- 
diously endeavoured to understand my duty in my new 
relation, and thought I was as proficient, at least as much 
so as other soldiers. One day, immediately after Wash- 
ington's arrival at Brooklyn, I was detached by the offi- 
cer of the day among the guard. It so happened, that 
I was placed as sentinel before the General's quarters 
at nine o'clock. About ten o'clock, the General's car- 
riage drove up, which I knew as a soldier, but not as a 
sentinel. I hailed the driver: — 
'Who comes there?' 
He answered, 'Gen. Washington.? 
*Who is Gen. Washington!* 



80 LIFE OF 

He replied. *The Commander of the American army.' 

*I don't know him; advance and give the countersign.' 

The driver put his head within the carriage, and then 
came and gave me the countersign. 

'The countersign is right,' I replied. 'Gen. Washing- 
ton can now pass.' 

The next morning the officer of the guard came to me 
and said, 'Gen. Washington has commanded me to no- 
tify you to appear at his quarters precisely at nine o'clock. ' 

'What does he want of me?' 

'I do not know,' replied the officer* 

In obedience to this order, I went to his quarters at 
the time appointed; but my mind was greatly harrass- 
ed to know whether I had discharged my duty aright the 
night previous. I gave the alarm at the door and the 
servant appeared. 

'Inform Gen. Washington,' said I, 'that the person 
he ordered to his quarters at nine o'clock, is now at the 
door/ 

The servant made the report and immediately came 
and bade me come in, and conducted me to the Gen- 
eral's room. When I entered he addressed me — 

'Are you the sentinel who stood at my door at ninei 
o'clock last night.''' 

'Yes sir, and I endeavored to do my duty.' 

'I wish all the army understood it as well as you do,'' 
said the Gen. This relieved the burthen on my mind. 

The Gen. then continued, ^Can you keep a secret?** 

'I can try.' 

'Are you willing to have your name struck from the roli' 
of the army, and engage in a secret service at the haz-| 
ard of your life, for which I promise you forty dollars al 
month?' :! 

'I am willing to serve my country in any way youj 
may think best.' \ 

'Call here precisely at seven o'clock this evening, and! 
I will give you further instructions.' 

I then retired, and precisely at seven o'clock, I return-| 
ed. The Gen. presented me with a sealed letter with 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



81 



out any superscription. He asked me if I had ever been 
on Roxbury Heights. I told him I had, and at his request 
I described the level ground on the top. He gave me 
the countersign, lest I should not be able to return be- 
fore the sentinel received it; and then told me to go to 
the'heights, and on the way to converse with no one, and 
endeavour not to pass any person if possible, and if I 
should observe any person, who I observed to notice me 
particularly, not to go on the height until out of his sight. 
And when I had ascended to the height, I must look 
round carefully, and if I discovered any person I must 
keep at a distance from him and suffer no one to take me. 
If every thing a]")peared to be quiet, I must go on the west 
side of the plain, there I should see a flat rock which I 
could raise by one hand, and a round stone about four 
feet from it; J must take the round stone and place it un- 
der the edge of the flat rock, which would raise it high 
enough to put the hand under it ; *you must then feel un- 
der the rock,' said the Gen. Hill you find a small hollow; 
if there is a letter in it, bring it to me and put this letter 
in the same place.' 

Having received my instructions, I made my way for 
the height, and nothing occurred worthy of note, except 
I found the rock and stone as described, and in the hol- 
low a letter, sealed without any superscription. I then 
adjusted the rock and placed the stone as I found it. 
I returned to the General's quarters and delivered the let- 
ter I found under the rock. The Gen. broke the seal and 
read it to himself — He then said, 

^You may retire and appear here at seven o'clock to- 
morrow evening?' 

This I did for some time, carrying and bringing let- 
ters, without being annoyed in any respect. At length, 
I observed a person at some small distance travelling the 
same way I was going and he eyed me with more atten- 
tion than was pleasing to me. I took rather a circuitous 
route, and when I came on the height, I was confident 
I saw two persons, if not more, descending the hill on the 
opposite side among the savins. I went even to the 



8^ LIFE OF 

savins to make discovery but could see no one. This 
told the Gen. on my return. 

He upbraided me for my presumption. He said Hhei 
might have sprung on you and took you. Never do thl 
like again.' 

When I returned the next evening, he gave me strict 
er charge than before. There was nothing occurred ti 
I ascended tlie height, I then plainly saw three person 
dodge behind the savins. I hesitated what to do. 
placed my head to the ground to obtain a clear view o. 
the opposite side. In an instant three men rushed fror 
behind the savins on the other side in full run to me. 
rose and ran with all my speed. No Grecian in the: 
celebrated games exerted himself more than I did. 
found one of the three was a near match for me. I gav 
the countersign without much ceremony. The sentin( 
turned on his heels and fled. I went to the General 
quarters, and on piesenting his letter I said, 

'Plereis the letter you gave me,' and then related th 
above story to him. 

He told me I might retire, and I need not call on hii 
again, till he should give me notice. He strictly charge 
me, when in company, or in the camp, to make myse 
a stranger to the movement of friends or foes, never 
ejiter into any dispute about war or the army, but alwa^^ 
be an inquirer. 

In about a week the General sent for me, and I repai 
ed to his quarters at the usual hour. He inquired if 
was ever dovi^n on what was then called Cambridge Necl 
I told him I had been there twice. He then handed n 
a letter, as usual, and said, 

^Go to the lower house, and enter the front door, an 
when you enter the room, if there be more than one pe 
son present, sit down, and make yourself a strange 
When all have gone out of the room, but one, then g 
up, and walk across the room repeatedly; after you ha> 
passed and repassed, he will take a letter out of his pod 
et and present it to you, and as he is doing this, you mu 
take this letter out of your pocket and present it to hir 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. S3 

charge you not to speak a word to him on the peril of 
our life. It is important that you observe this.' 

I went to the house, and on entering the room, I found 
utone man in it, and he was at the corner of the room. 
le rose on my entering. I immediately commenced my 
ravel across the room, and at the same time, eyeing him 
ttentively. The third time I passed, he put his hand iri- 
3 his pocket, took a letter out, extended it towards me, 
nd I took out my letter, and extended it towards him. 
'Vith his other hand he took hold of my letter, and I did 
he same with his. I then retired with a bow, and re- 
urned to the General. We two could well recognize 
;ach other, though w^e were not allowed to speak. This 
node of communication continued for some time. 

One evening, as this man was presenting his letter, 
ie whispers to me, Hell General Washington the British 
ire coming out on the neck to-morrow mornine;, at two 
)'clock.' 

When I delivered the letter to General Washington, 
[ addressed him thus, "General, the person who deliv- 
ered this letter to me, whispered and said, 'tell General 
iVashington the British are coming out on the neck to- 
norrow morning at two o'clock.' 

The Genera] started, and inquired, Svas it the same 
person you received the letters from before ?' Yes sir.' 

He then broke the letter, and read it, after which, he 
isked, did you speak to him?' 

'No Sir.' 

Then saying, 'Stop here till I return,' ho took his hat 
and cane and locked the door after him. He was gone 
nearly an hour and a half. 

When he returned, he said, 'I do not know that I shall 
need your service any more; you will continue about 
the encampment, and I will allow you the same pay you 
have now,' 

Having nothing to do, I had the curiosity to ramble 
about in the army and vicinity, to find the man who 
whispered to me, but I never saw him. Whether that 
whisper was fatal to him, I know not. The injunction 



84 * LIFE OF 

on me was paramount to it, in case of disobedience. 1 
continued with the army till they left Cambridge, then 
I was discharged. 

Shortly after the battle of Long Island, the regiment 
to which my father and brothers were attached, laid witt 
Washington at White Plains; and after his retreat froo: 
there, it was ordered on to Fort Washington. This for-, 
tress was attacked on the 16th of November, 1776, b) 
four divisions of the enemy and at four different pointsi 
The garrison fought bravely whilst it had ammunition 
When this became exhausted it capitulated ; my fathei 
was wounded, and by capitulation became a prisoner o: 
w^ar and was thrown into a prison ship, w^here he endurec 
great privations and sufferings. 

When my brothers informed my mother of the situa- 
tion of my father, she followed his destiny and thre^w 
herself into the British camp, and begged permission o: 
the officers to go on board the prison ship and ministe: 
to his wants, relieve him in his sufferings, and soothe him 
as far as practicable in his suffering condition. She begi 
ged this privilege of the British commander and officers 
for God's sake, but for a long time they were deaf to hei 
entreaties. After repeated importunities her request wai 
at length granted. She was not very long on board thj 
prison ship, until she fell sick with disease contracted ii 
her constant attendance upon my father amidst the sick 
ening staunch arising within the ship, — this sickness wa; 
owing to that great pestilential stench created by S( 
many sick and w^ounded soldiers being huddled togethej 
in so confined a place as a prison ship. My mothei 
begged so hard of the officers in the midst of her sickj 
ness for the release of my father, that they were inducecjj 
at length to let him off upon paro/e of honor ^ as it wa; 
called ; the purport of which was, that he was not to b 
found bearing arms thereafter against Great Britain. 

My father and mother in part recovered, set out ii 
their weak state of health for home, but, upon reaching; 
Philadelphia my mother was taken ill again and shortl 
afterwards died in that city. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 85 

General Washington made an attack with singularly 
good fortune upon a body of Hessians. He crossed the 
Delaware River at Trenton on the night of the 25th 
(Christmas) of December, 1776, and fell upon them and 
captured nearly 1000 prisoners, with which he recrossed 
the Delaware. Washington lost but nine men in achiev- 
ing this brilliant victory. The news of this noble ex- 
ploit constituted a fine Christmas gift from Washington 
to the friends of Liberty throughout the struggling States 
of the youthful Republic. 

THE BATTLE OF TRENTON. 

FROM THE MANUSCRIPT OF AN EYE-WITNESS. 

'* Whose bullet on the night air sang ?" 

Bride of Abydos, 

I had scarcely put my foot in the stirrup before an aid- 
de-camp from the commander-in-chief galloped up to me 
with a summons to the side of Washington. I bowed 
in reply, and dashed up the road. The general in chief 
w^as already on horseback, surrounded by his staff, and 
on the point of setting out. He was calm and collected, 
as if in his cabinet. No sooner did he see me than he 
waved his hand as a signal to halt. I checked my steed 
on the instant, lifted my hat, and waited his commands. 

''You are a native of this country ?" 

"Yes! — your excellency." 

"You know the roads from M^Conkey's ferry to Tren- 
ton — by the river and to Pennington — the byeroads and 
all." 

"As well as I know my alphabet," and I patted the 
neck of my impatient charger. 

" Then I may have occasion for you — you will remain 
with the staff — ah ! that is a spirited animal you ride, 
Lieutenant Archer," he added smilingly, as the fiery 
beast made a demivolt, that set half the group in com- 
motion. 

'* Your excellency — " 

" Never mind," said Washington, smiling again, as 
8 



86 * LIFE OF 

another impatient spring of my charger, cut short the sen- 
tence, "I see the heads of the columns are in motion — - 
you ^viIl remember,'^ and waving his hand he gave the 
rein to his steed, while I fell back bewildered into the 
staff. 

The ferry w^as close at hand, but the increased cold 
made the march any thing but pleasant. We all hov7- 
ever, hoped on the morrow to redeem our country by 
striking a signal blow, and every heart beat high with 
the anticipation of victory. Column after column of our 
little array defiled at the ferry, and the night had scarce- 
ly set in before the embarcation began. 

At last we crossed the Delaw^are. The whole nigh 
had been consumed in transportation of the men and ar- 
tillery, and the morning was within an hour or two of 
dawning before the last detachment had been embarked. 
As I wheeled my horse on the little bank above the land- 
ing place, I paused an instant to look back through the 
obscurity on the scene. The night was dark, wild and 
threatening — the clouds betokened an approaching tem- 
pest — and I could w^ith difficulty penetrate with my eye, 
the fast increasing gloom. As I put ray hand across my 
brows to pierce into the darkness, a gust of wind, sweep- 
ing down the river, whirled the snow in my face and 
momentarily blinded my sight. At last I discerned the 
opposite shore amid the obscurity. The landscape was 
wild and gloomy. A few desolate looking houses were 
in si^^ht, and they scarcely perceptible in shadowy twi- 
light. The bare trees lifted their hoary arms on high, 
groaning and creaking in the gale. The river was cov- 
ered with drifting ice, that now jammed with a crash 
together, and then floated slowly apart, leaving scarcely 
space for the boats to pass. The dangers of the navi- 
gation can better be imagined than described — for the 
utmost exertions could often just prevent the frail struc- 
tures from being crushed. Occasionally a stray fife would 
be heard shooting shiilly over the w^aters, mingling free- 
ly with the fiercer pipings of the winds, — and anon the 
deep roll of the drum would boom across the night, the 



CAPTAIN SAMUEJL DEWEES. 87 

ncigli of a horse would float from the opposite shore, or 
the crash of the jamming ice woukl be heard like far off 
thunder. The cannoneers beneath me were dragging a 
piece of artillery up the ascent, and the men were rapidly 
forming on the shore below as they landed. It was a stirr- 
ing scene. At this instant the band of the -regi- 
ment struck up an enlivened air, and plunging my rowels 
in my steed, I whirled him around into the road and went 
off on a gallop to overtake the General's staff. 

It was now four o'clock, and so much time had been 
consumed that it became impossible for us to reach our 
destination before daybreak, and consequently ail certain- 
ty of a surprise was over. A hasty council was there- 
fore called on horseback to determine whether to retreat 
or not. A few moments decided it. All were unani- 
mous to proceed at every peril. 

'' Gentlemen," said Washington, after they had sev- 
erally spoken, " then we all agree — the attack shall take 
place — General," he continued, turning to Sullivan, 
" your brigade shall march by the river road, while I wih 
take that by Pennington — let us arrive as near eight o'- 
clock as possible. But do not pause when you reach 
their outposts — drive them in before their ranks can form, 
and pursue them to the very centre of the town. I shall 
be there to take them in the flank — the rest we must 
leave to the God of battles. And now, gentlemen, to 
our posis." In five minutes we were in motion. 

The eagerness of our troops to come was never more 
conspicuous than on the morning of the eventful day. 
We had scarcely lost sight of Sullivan's detachment 
across the intervening fields, before the long threatened 
storm burst over us. The night was intensely cold ; the 
sleet and hail rattled incessantly on the men's knapsacks; 
and the wind shrieked, howled, and roared among the 
old pine trees with terrific violence. At times the snow 
fell perpendicularly downwards — then it beat horizontal- 
ly into our faces with furious impetuosity — and again it 
was whirled wildly on high, eddying around and around 
and sweeping away on the v/histiing tempest far down 



88 LIFE OF 

into the gloom. The tramp of the men — the low orders 
of the officers — the occasional rattle of a musket were 
almost lost in the shrill voice of the gale, or the deep, 
sullen roar of the tortured forest. Even these sounds atL 
length ceased, and we continued to march in profound? 
silence, increasing as we drew nearer to the outposts ofj 
the enemy. The redoubled violence of the gale, though { 
it added to the suffering of our brave continentals, was 
even hailed with joy, as it decreased the chances of ouri 
discovery, and made us once more hope high for ^ 
successful surprise. Nor were those sufferings light. — \r 
Through that dreadful night nothing but the lofty patri- 
otism of a freeman could have sustained them. Halfi 
clothed — many without shoes — whole companies desti- 
tute of blankets, they yet pressed bravely on against thet 
storm, though drenched to the skin, shivering at every^ 
blast; and too often marking their footsteps with blood 
Old as I am now, the recollection is still vivid in my mind 
God forbid that such sufferings should ever have to bet 
endured again ! 

The dawn at last came ; but the storm still raged. — 
The trees were borne down with sleet, and the slush 
was ankle deep in the roads. The few fields we passed! 
covered with wet, spongy snow, — and the half buriedJ 
houses looked bleak and desolate in the uncertain morn 
ing light. It has been my lot to witness few such for-- 
bidding scenes. At this instant a shot was heard in front, 
and a messenger dashed furiously up to announce that! 
the outposts of the British were being driven in. 

"Forward — forward," cried Washington, himself, gal- 
loping up to the head of the column, " push on, ray 
brave fellows— on." 

The men started like hunters at the cry of the pack 
as their GeneraPs voice was seconded by a hasty fire 
from the riflemen in the van, and forgetting every thing 
but the foe, marched rapidly, with silent eagerness, to- 
ward the sound of the conflict. As they emerged from 
the wood the scene burst upon them. 

The town lay but a short distance ahead, just discern-. 



li 



'i( 



Captain samuel dewees. 89 

able through the twilight and seemingly buried in repose. 
The streets were wholly deserted ; and as yet the alarm 
had not reached the main body of the enemy. A single 
horseman was seen, however, fleeting a moment through 
the mist, — he was lost behind a clump of trees, — and 
then re-appeared, dashing wildly down the main street 
of the village. I had no doubt he was a messenger from 
the outposts for a reinforcement ; and if suffered to rally 
one we knew all hope was gone. To the forces he had 
left we now therefore turned our attention. 

The first charge of our gallant continentals had driven 
the outposts in like the shock of an avalanche. Just 
aroused from sleep and taken completely by surprise, they 
did not at first pretend to make a stand, but retreated 
rapidly and in disorder, before our vanguard. A few 
moments, however, had sufficed to recall their reeling 
faculties, and perceiving the insignificant force opposed 
to them, they halted, hesitated, rallied, poured in a hea- 
vy fire, and even advanced cheering to the onset. But 
at this moment our main body emerged from the wood, 
and when my eyes first fell upon the Hessian grenadiers, 
they were again beginning to stagger. 

" On — on — push on, continentals of the ," shout- 
ed the officer in command. 

The men with admirable discipline still forbore their 
shouts, and steadily pressed on against the now flying 
outposts. In another instant the Hessians were in full 
retreat upon the town. 

'^ By heaven !" ejaculated an aid-de-camp at my side, 
as a rolling fire of musquetry was all at once heard at 
the distance of half a mile across the village, "there 
goes Sullivan's brigade- — the day's our own." 

* Charge that artillery with a detachment from the 
eastern regiment,' shouted the General as the battery of 
the enemy was seen a little to our right. 

The men levelled their bayonets, marched steadily up 
to the very mouths of the cannon, and before the artil- 
lerists could bring their pieces to bear, carried them with 
a cheer. Just then the surprised enemy was seen en- 
8* 



90 LIFE OF 

deavoring to form in the main street aliead, and the ^ 
rapidly increasing fire on the side of Sullivan told thatnnen 
the day in that quarter, was fiercely maintained, A few||ioiil 
moments of indecision would ruin all. L I 

^ Press on, — press on there,' shouted the commander- pert 
in-chief, galloping to the front, and waving his sword \k 
aloft 'charge them before they can form' — ' follow me.'i tlie 

The effect was electrical. Gallant as had been their 
conduct before, our brave troops now seemed to be car- 
ried away with perfect enthusiasm. The men burst into 
a cheer at the sight of their commander's daring, andJ 
dashing rapidly into the town, carried every thing beforet; ton 
them like a hurricane. The half formed Hessians open-; en; 
ed a desultory fire, fell in before our impetuous attack, .'stf 
wavered, broke, and in two minutes were flying pell-mell: 
through the town, while our troops, with admirable disci-i 
pline, still maintaining their ranks, pressed steadily upi 
the street, driving the foe before them. They had scarce 
ly gone a hundred yards, before the banners of Sullivan's^l sii 
brigade were seen floating through the mist ahead — a 
cheer burst from our men — it was answered back from ouri 
approaching comrades, and perceiving themselves hemm 
ed in on all sides, and that farther retreat was impossible,, 
the whole regiment he had routed laid down their arms. 
The instant victory was ours, and the foe had surrend- 
ered, every unmanly exultation disappeared from the 
countenance of our brave troops. The fortune of war 
had turned against their foes ; it was not the part of 
brave men to add insult to misfortune. 

We were on the point of dismounting when an aid-J 
de-camp wheeled around the corner of the street ahead, 
and checking his foaming charger at the side of Wash- 
ington, exclaimed breathlessly. 

' A detachment has escaped — they are in full retreatil 
on the Princeton road.' 

Quick as thought tlie commander-in-chi-ef flung him- 
self into the saddle again, and looking hastily around 
the group of oificers singled me out. 

'Lieutenant Archer — you know the roads. ColoneH 



CAPTAIN SAxMUEL DEWEES. 91 

, will march his regiment around, and prevent the 

enemy's retreat. You will take them by the shortest 
route.' 

I bowed in acknowledgment to the saddle-bow, and 
perceiving the colonel was some distance ahead, went 
like an arrow down the street to join him. It was but 
the work of an instant to wheel the men into a neigh- 
boring avenue, and before five minutes the muskets of 
the retiring foe could be seen through the intervening 
trees. I had chosen a cross-path which making, as it 
were, the longest side of a triangle, entered the Prince- 
ton road a short distance above the town, and would 
enable us to cut off completely the enemy's retreat. The 
struggle to attain the desired point where the two routes 
intersected was short, but fierce. We had already ad- 
vanced half way before we were discovered, and though 
the enemy pressed on with eagerness of despair, our 
gallant fellows were fired on their part with the enthu- 
siasm of conscious victory. As we drew rapidly nearer 
to the intersection we were cheered by finding ourselves 
ahead — a bold, quick push enabled us to reach it some 
seconds before the foe — and rapidly facing about as we 
wheeled into the other road, we summoned the discom- 
fited enemy to surrender. In half an hour I reported 
myself at the head quarters as the aid-de-camp of Col- 
onel , to announce our success. 

The exultation of our countrymen on learning the vic- 
tory of Trenton, no pen can picture. One universal 
shout of victory rolled from MavSsachusetts to Georgia ; 
and we were hailed every where as the saviours of our 
country. The drooping spirits of the colonists were re- 
animated by the news ; the hopes for a successful term- 
ination of the contest once more were aroused ; and the 
enemy, paralyzed by the blow, retreated in disorder to- 
wards Princeton and New Brunsv.'ick. Years have pass- 
ed since then ; but I shall never forget the battle of Tren- 
ton. 

"So popular was the cause of the United States, and 
so exalted the character of their military leader, that many. 



92 LIFE OV 

French officers sought an opportunity of engaging in their 
service. Among these, the young Marquis de la Fay- 
ette was most conspicious for his rank, and most distin- 
guished for his ardor and enthusiasm. At an early pe- 
riod, he communicated to the American agents his wish 
to join the republican armies. At first they encouraged 
his zeal, but learning the disasters which preceded the 
victory at Trenton, they, with honorable frankness, com- 
municated the information to him, and added 'that they 
were so destitute of funds, that they could not even pro- 
vide for his passage across the ocean. 

" If your country," replied the gallant youth, " is in-' 
deed reduced to this extremity, it is at this moment that! 
my departure to join her armies will render her the most; 
essential service." He immediately hired a vessel to 
convey him to America, where he arrived in the spring; 
of 1777. He was received with cordial affection by the;|| 
people, became the bosom friend of Washington, solic-l 
ited permission to serve without pay, and was appointed 
major-general in the army." — Hale^s United States. 

Not long after the event, my mother's death, my father 
reported himself at camp and joined the army again, butl, i 
as he durst not fight against Britain with any degree ofii i 
safety, it was thought most advisable to send him again jli 
to Reading in the capacity of a recruiting sergeant. \j'\ 

Whilst my father was at Reading obtaining recruits,;' i 
he w^as informed of the cruel treatment I received from'i 
Lewis and family. He visited me and told me to come ( 
to town in the course of a few days thereafter. I did so. . \ 
He then enlisted me as a fifer. At this time T suppose 1( 
I was about or turned of 15, but quite small of my age. i \ 
Soon after my enlistment, my father who had enlisted aff 
good company of men marched them off to join his re-(( 
giment, which was stationed somewhere in Buck's coun- fl 

At this time the regiment being a^'ain full as to num- > .j 
bers w^as ordered on to West Point, where there were a;j j 
great many soldiers. Whilst w^e laid at West Point ini, j 
the latter part of the summer of 1777, the American sol-' 'i 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 93 

diers were busily engaged in building a great number of 
huts for winter quarters. They erected two rows, which 
extended more than a mile in length. The parade ground, 
which extended the whole length in front, was from 250 
to 300 yards broad and was as level as the floor of a 
house. There were two or three brigades of soldiers 
there at that time, to the first of which our regiment was 
attached. A more full description of this encampment 
and the huts alluded to, will be presented to my readers 
in another part of the present work. 

My father was ordered back from West Point to Read- 
ing again, and from Reading he was appointed and or- 
dered on to take charge of the sick and wounded soldiers 
on the Brandywine creek, in Chester county, Pa. Bran- 
dywine meeting-house was at this time used as a hos- 
pital. My father marched thither and took charge of it 
as superintendant, and I accompanied him. 

We had not been very long at Brandywine meeting- 
house before the battle of Brandywine took place. This 
event occurred on the 11th of September, 1777. Al- 
though General Washington and the Marquis, (then Gen- 
eral) de la Fayette and their brave troops were forced 
to retreat, yet Washington struck the iron whilst it was hot 
and did his part faithfully, for he attacked the British in- 
fantry, whilst in the act of fording the Brandywine creek 
at Chadd's Ford, and had it not been for the great supe- 
riority of numbers upon the side of the British, advanta- 
ges would have been great and decided ; and this Wash- 
ington was well aware of, as the British soldiers when 
emptying their pieces could not load whilst they were 
in the stream, for they could not procure a resting place 
for the butts of their muskets ; had the> attempted to have 
done so their muskets would have been rendered useless 
by the water. 

It was said after the battle, that the waters of Bran- 
dywine were reddened with the blood of the slain soldiers 
of the British army. The battle was fought so near to 
the meeting-house that the firing of cannon shattered 
the glass in the windows, I remember well that the 



94 * LIFE OF 

glass came rattling down constantly \Yhilst any remain 
ed in the building. The wounded soldiers were brought 
in great numbers to the hospital. Those engaged in 
bringing them, drove as fast as they could possibly 
drive under existing circumstances, and upon their ar- 
rival they would hastily lift the wounded out of the 
w^agons, place them on the ground in front of the hos- 
pital and return as soon as possible to the field of car-j 
nage for another load. To hear the wild and frantic 
shrieks of the vrounded, the groans of the dying, and 
to see the mangled and bloody state of the soldiers upor. 
the arrival of the wagons, — to see the ground all cover- 
ed over with the blood, and blood running in numbers 
of places from the w^agon-bodies, w^as enough to chil 
the blood in the warmest heart and to make the stoutest 
heart embossed in adamant to stand appalled. To see 
the distorted features, of those lion-hearted men, the mos" 
brave and noble souls, writhing in the most keen aac 
inexpressible anguish, and that too in an hour wher 
harshness of handling or removing in haste became no' 
only necessary but was tenderness in itself, in efforts tc 
save them from a lawless, inhuman and insulting, crue: 
foe. These were the hours of darkness and of sore trial 
Those of us at the hospital carried the wounded soldierij 
into the meeting-house as fast as w^e could, and laic 
them to the hands of the surgeons who dressed thei; 
wounds as fast as possible and sent them off in wagon 
immediately afterwards towards Philadelphia. Oh! wha 
a scene — who so dead to the emotions of tenderness as t 
be able to contemplate it with a cold and calculating] 
heart ? the man the woman, in whose heart there is a voiil 
— the heart that never felt or possessed the least spark o 
true and heaven-born humanity stealing over its surface! 
bending that heart upon the side of hallowed mercy,—' 
the heart never watered with the crystal streams of faith 
ful and exalted republican principles, — the heart tha 
never has felt or possessed the all potent fire and ilov 
of an imperishable, pure and glorious patriotism, or fel 
the grace of the Most High and its melting powers ove 
the human heart. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 95 

The skirmishing engagements and regular battle last- 
ed from day-light until almost sun-set. This battle 
was a hard one, the heat of the day was very oppres- 
sive, the men suffered severely and no doubt many sol- 
Jiers died from exhaustion alone; the cry for water was 
the most distressing, soldiers would come to soldiers 
and beg for God's sake that they might receive but a 
little water to quench their burning thirst, and wherever 
canteens were beheld by these famishing soldiers slung 
upon others, a descent would be made upon them, and 
in many instances when assurances were given that 
their canteens were empty no credit would be given to 
the assertions, but the famishing soldiers would tear the 
canteens from off the shoulders of their possessors and 
examine them themselves ere they would be satisfied 
that they were empty. Many of those unsatisfied and per- 
ishing heroes returned again to the battle, and many no 
doubt died from exhaustion, others fell dead on the bat- 
tle field from the deadly arms of their enemies, others 
jfell covered with wounds and with glory contending with 
odds against them in defence of the untried liberties of 
an oppressed and struggling people, whilst here and there 
one perhaps whose iron constitution braved it out and 
survived every privation, hardship and danger and lived 
to see his country disenthralled, triumphant, exalted, hap- 
py and free, and in the hour of his departure from an 
earthly career of intense suffering and glory, expressed 
himself in relation to his country as did the good man 
Df old upon an all-glorious occasion of joyfulness and 
jglory. " Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for 
^mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Blessed be the 
'[Lord God of Israel ; for he hath visited and redeem- 
d his people, that we should be saved from our enemies, 
and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the 
nercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy 
ovenant, the oath which he sware to our father Abra- 
bam, that he would o^rant unto us, that we, beinoj deliv- 
ered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him 
Hvithout fear, in HOLINESS and RIGHTEOUSNESS 



96 LIFE OF 

before him all the days of our life. Through the tende] 
mercy of our God ; whereby the day-spring from or 
high hath visited these UNITED STATES. | 

Who would not prize the services, preserve inviolate 
and perpetuate the memory of such a soldiery, suffer 
fight and bleed at their posts, until nature would becom^ 
literally exhausted ; yes, until death itself would mab 
an end of their sufferings, ere they would seek to satis 
fy the most pressing wants of their nature by a sacrifici 
of their high and proud duty to their country, in endeav 
oring to wrest her from the dominion of tyrants, by no: 
ble exertions and deeds of noble daring in Columbia' 
battle fields of glory. Who would not cherish in the mos 
lively emotions of gratitude the memory of such gallani 
soldiers as these ? why, those who are now as they wen 
to be found then, disaffected, black, rotten, shallow-heart 
ed tories, that would rather feed, clothe and help thei 
country's bitterest and most cruel enemies to the extent c 
their every ability than to afford one lone, solitary com 
fort by way of relief to veteran soldiers and defend 
ers of their country's sacred rights and imperishabl 
Liberties. Does any suppose that such characters, foi 
and black, can have an existence among us in a Republj 
lican country at the present day. Yes, pocket RepubU 
cans there are, that instead of bestowing a comfort upo I 
a veteran soldier, for their pocket's sake, would not onl I 
sell their country as did an Arnold, but if it would fi 
their pockets would aid in putting a crown upon the hea 
of any man, that might be found so corrupt as to accej 
and wear one at their hands. 

My father and his soldiers who were now under thj 
command of Colonel George Ross of the 11th Regimen | 
remained at Brandy wine meeting-house for the purpos 
of burying the dead ; this they continued to do, until 
body of British light horse were beheld coming up i 
full gallop; my father ordered his men to fly instantly t 
the woods, telling them at the same time to halt there, ur| 
til he should join them; he then bade me to run fast fc 
the woods and take care of myself, whilst he was th 



1 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 97 

jj last to leave, I being pretty fleet of foot I halted within 
sight until the light-horsemen rode up in front of the 
meeting-house. I felt anxious to see what they would 
do. Upon halting they all dismounted. There was a 
dead soldier lying on a bench in front of the church, cov- 
ered with a blanket ; I saw a British horseman draw his 
sword as soon as he dismounted, and advance to the 

I bench and run it through the body of the dead soldier. 
To speak in derision of the brave hero, this was a bold, 
undaunted and heroic display of military prowess. The 
beholding of this spiritless action satisfied my curiosity, 
and " / heeled it like a major"*^ and was not the last of 
the party in gaining the woods. Upon the horsemen 
taking the route we had taken we were again induced 
to take to our *' scrapers,'*'' I ran into a house where our 
Col. had boarded, and picked up a pair of boots that be- 
longed to him and carried them with me. The retreat 
was ordered to Philadelphia whither we were now bound. 
We all became scattered in the woods after dark and my 
father and myself took our course across Delaware coun- 
ty in the direction of Philadelphia. We travelled some 
considerable distance that night and at last arrived at the 
house of a patriotic friend of Liberty — a good American 
friend, a true friend to the weary and despised soldier. 
This man gave us a hearty welcome to his house, took 
us in and gave us to eat and drink, and then conducted 
us up to his garret and made us a bed upon the floor, so 
that as he said if any of the British scouters should come 
they might not be able to find us. Here we rested our 
weary limbs till almost day light and then pushed on for 
Philadelphia barracks. We played rather hide-and-go- 
seek upon the road, keeping a constant look out for the 
British or British scouters, but we were not surprized 
by any of them in our route thither. 

When we arrived at Philadelphia barracks, we found 
but a few soldiers there. I do not recollect whether Gen- 
eral Washington arrived before or after us at Philadel- 
phia, but think that he did not arrive there before us, as 
his march could not have been as rapid a one as ours^ 
9 



98 * LIFE OF 

He had halted at Chester for the night, only eight miles! 
from the scene of action, and had his artillery and bag-; 
gage to retard his progress ; it is, therefore, questionable; 
in my own mind whether he arrived at Philadelphia on;; 
the same day that we did. 

THE BATTLE DAY OF BRANDYWINE. 

BY GEORGE LIPPARD, ESQ., 

Author of Herbert Tracy, Rendulph the Prince, &,'c. 

THE BATTLE FIELI>, 

In the southern portion of the county of Chester, along: 
the borders of Pennsylvania and Delaware, the eye of 
ihe traveller is attracted by the luxuriant scenery of a 
lovely valley, inhabited by a quiet and peaceful people,, 
whose speech is simple as their garb is plain. 

A clear and glassy stream, now overshadowed by, 
drooping elm or oaken trees, now open to the gleam of 
the sunlight, winds along amid the recesses of the vaU' 
ey, while sloping to the east, a plain of level earth spreads 
green grassy, winding with each bend of the rivulet on 
one side, and arising on the other, into massive, mound- 
like hills, clad with the chesnut, the oak, or the beecheiiJ 
tree, or variegated by the changing aspects of cultiva- 
tion — the brown field of upturned earth, the green corn,] 
the golden wheat or pleasant pasturage. 

It is indeed a lovely valley. In the summer time, the 
ancient farm-houses scattered along the bed of the vale 
look out from among the rustic beauty of embosoming 
trees, and the verdure seems richer and more gorge- 
ous in hue, the skies seem clearer and lovelier, and 
the hills arise with a more undulating grandeur, than in 
any other place ; while the meadows are gay with wild- 
flowers, and green with a spring-like bloom, that endures 
till autumn has waned into winter. 

The high hills of the east glide away in richly cultiva- 
ted farms, with a massive forest winding amid the bloom 
Qf cultivation, and flinging its small spurs of woodland 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 99 

out into many a pleasant field, or along the quiet walks 
of many a lovely valley. 

On the west of this rustic stream arise abrupt hills, 
covered with forests, more rugged and less gentle in 
their pastoral beauty than the opposite hills, yet inter- 
spersed with cultivated fields and ancient farm-houses, 
wdth here and there a shadowy glen, breaking away from 
the bed of the stream, or a lofty hill, thrusting its un- 
covered summit boldly forth into the sky, while around 
its base flow the waters of the world hidden rivulet. 

This world hidden rivulet is called the Brandywine, 
and on the surface of its grassy meadows, and around 
the brows of the overlooking hill-tops, amid the wilds 
of the far-off hills and plains, did our fathers fight the 
battle of Brandywine, v/ith good strong arms that knew^ 
no quailing, and good stout hearts that knew no fear. 

THE TIME OF THE BATTLE. 

It was in the month of September, .in the year of our 
Lord 1777, when the torch of Revolution and the dis- 
cord of Civil War had been blazing for two long years 
over the land — it was in the early part of the first autum- 
nal month, that the fear of war, with all its terror and 
gloom, first entered the confines of this lovely valley. — 
A vague rumor of coming evil reached the blacksmith 
at his anvil — the farmer at his plough — it flew from hill- 
side to hillside, from the valley to the plain — it passed from 
farm-house to farm-house, and the echoes of the quiet 
Quaker temple were aroused by the sounds of solemn 
prayer to the God of Peace, that he might protect his 
chosen people in the hour of their peril. 

For many days the rumor was vague and shadowy, 
but at last it became certain and defined in its character, 
and the peaceful denizens of Brandywine were told that 
General Howe, with seventeen thousand armed and dis- 
ciplined soldiers, had made a landing on the peninsula 
of Maryland and Delaware, above the mouth of the Sus- 
quehanna, near a place called Turkey-town— rthat his ob- 



100 LIFE OF 

ject was the conquest and possession of the city of Phil- 
adelphia, distant some thirty or forty miles — and that 
for the attainment of his object, he would sweep, like i 
tornado, over the luxuriant plains and valleys that la} 
between his troops and the city ; marking his course 
with fire and sword, and leaving the blasted field anc 
burned farm-house in his rear, while in front of him flee t( 
the terrified soldiers of George Washington's army. i 
At the same time that this rumor reached the peace- si 
ful denizens of the valley, the intelligence of Georg^||t] 
Washington's approach was also proclaimed. It wa&^ 
stated by some that Washington and the continental 3i 
troops were moving from the northward, to arrest the pro-) ti 
gress of the British invader : other rumors stated that he jl2 
came from the direction of Wilmington, some fourteerifi 
miles distant; but all agreed in one point — that the; 
quiet valley of the Brandy wine was in a few days des-;;|l^ 
lined to be the chess-board on which George Wash-i*^ 
ington, with his starved continentals, on the one side^ if 
and General Howe, with his well dressed and well-feo t 
seventeen thousand British and Hessians, were to play i 
a magnificent game of blood and battle, for the stake, fr 
which was nothing less than the good city of Philadeli * 
phia, with its Quaker citizens, its stores of provisions, i 
and its Continental Congress. 

^ i 

THE CONTINENTALS. 

SO 

It was on the evening of the 9th of September, 1777. sa 
that the peal of martial music first broke upon the ears « 
of the Quakers of Brandy wine ; and presently there came ir 
trooping from the hills, towards the east, a band of men; 
clad in military costume, with bayonets glittering in the 
twilight air, and banners waving over head. They came 
with the regular movement of military discipline, band 
after band, troop after troop, rank after rank, breaking, of 
with peals of music, from the covert of the hills ; — but !st 
the horses of the cavalry were jaded and worn in appear- Jiii 
ance, the steps of the infantry were tired and heavy, and Iri 
the broad banners of this strange host waved proudly to 



CAPTAIl^ SAMtJfiL DEWEES. 101 

in the air, but their folds were rent and torn ; and in its 
rear rolled the heavy baggage-wagons, conveying the 
sick and wounded of a score of battles and an. hundred 
frays. 

It needed no second glance to tell the valley people 
that this strange army was the army of George Washing- 
ton. Poverty and freedom in those days walked hand in 
hand ; and sleek skins and broad-cloth apparel were re- 
served for the readiest slave or the most skilful tool of the 
tyrant. 

An omen of despair sat upon the American banner ; 
and it needed no very active imagination to fancy the 
brooding phantom perched in thin air over the continen- 
tal host, and chuckling with fiend-like glee, as he point- 
ed to the gloomy past and the unknown future. 

The main body pf the army, with Washington and 
Wayne, took position on the level plain, sloping east- 
ward from the Brandy wine, at Chadd's Ford — the right 
wing of the army, under the brave Sullivan, took a po- 
sition on the high hills, some two miles northward, along 
the course of the Brandywine; and the left wing, com- 
prising the Pennsylvania militia, under General Arm- 
strongs, were placed at a ford some two miles below 
Chadd's Ford. 

Here you have the American soldiers, watching on 
their arms, from the eastern hills of Brandywine, for 
some four or five miles along its course, and watching 
earnestly and courageously, for the appearance of the 
well-armed and ruthless band of foreign invaders, foes 
or hirelings. 

And where was the British army h 

THE BRITISHERS.. 

On the very next day, the tenth of the month, the hoslts 
of a well-disciplined army came breaking from the for- 
ests, with merry peals of fife and drum, the bugle-note, 
and clarion sound ; and while the morning sun shone 
brightly on their well-burnished arms, they proceeded to 
occupy an open space of ground, amid the shadow of 
9* 



162 LIFE OF 

the woods, at a place called Kenneths Square j some sev- 
en miles westward of Chaddh Ford. 

How grandly they broke from the woods with the sun- 
beams shining on the gaudy red coat, the silver-lacec 
cap, and the forest of nodding plumes ! How proudh 
their red-cross banner waved in the free air, as thougl 
not ashamed to toy and wanton with the breeze of free- 
dom, after it had floated over the fields of enslaved Eu 
rope, and looked down upon the plains of ravaged India 
were the Juggernaut of British power rolled over its tei 
thousand victims — the mother with her babe, the fathe: 
with his son, all commingled in one common massacre 
Who would have thought that these finely built men 
with their robust forms, were other than freemen? — tha 
their stout hands could strike another blow than the good 
honest blow of a free arm, winged by the impulse of i 
free thought? 

Who, gazing on this gallant host, with its gleaming 
swords upraised in air, its glittering bayonets shining 
in the light, who would have thought that, to supplj 
this gallant host, the jails of England had been ransack 
ed, her convict ships had been emptied? that the dul 
slaves of a German prince had beeen bought to swel 
the number of this chivalric band, and that these were the| 
men who had crossed the wide Atlantic — with what ob 
ject, pray ? 

To tame these American peasants, who dared sylla-i 
ble the name of "Freedom" — to whip these "Rebe 
dogs" — such was the courteous epithet they applied tc 
Washington and Wayne — to whip these '''Rebel dogs' 
])ack to their original obscurity — to desolate the fail 
plains and pleasant valleys of the New World — to stair 
the farmer's home with his own blood, shed in defence 
of his hearth side — and to crush, with the hand of hire- 
ling power, the last hope of man's freedom, burning or 
the shrine of the desolated world ! 

And who could have imagined that the majestic-look-; 
ing man who led this host of hirelings onward, the brave 
Howe, with his calm face and mild forehead— who coulcjj 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 103 

have fancied that this was the man to whistle the war- 
dogs on to the scenes of sack and slaughter? Or that 
the amiable Cornwallis, who rode at his side, was the 
fit tool for such a ruthless scene of tyrant massacre ? Or 
that the brave and chivah'ic sons of England's nobility, 
who commanded the legions of the invading host — that 
these men, gay, young, and generous, were the execu- 
tioners of the hangman's warrant, that converted all 
America into one vast prison-house of convicted felons, 
each mountain-peake a scaffold for the brave, each tree 
a gibbet for the soldier of freedom ? 

THE BATTLE DAY. 

The Eleventh of September. It dawned brightly and 
fairly, and the sky was clear and serene, the perfume of 
wild flowers was upon the air, and the blue mists of au- 
tumn hung around the summit of the woodland hills. 

The clear sky arched above, calm as on the by-gone 
days of halcyon peace, the wide forests flung their sea 
of leaves all wavingly into the sunlight — and nature was 
the same as in the ancient time, but man was changed. 

The blacksmith wrought not at his forge on that event- 
ful morn — the farmer leaned wistfully upon the motion- 
less ploug^i, standing idly in the half tilled field, or else 
went not forth, at all, to labor. The peaceful Quakers 
of the valley flocked to their simple house of prayer — 
the Birmingham meeting-house, some four miles north- 
east of Chadd's Ford — and while rumor after rumor, 
fraught with intelligence of blood and battle, came float- 
ing upon the air, these plain sons of the Christian church 
sent up their hearts to God, in voiceless prayer, for that 
aid and succor which had never yet been denied. 

On the summit of a green undulating hill, not more than 
half a mile distant from the plain of Chadd's Ford, the 
eye of the traveller is arrested at this day, by the sight 
of a giant chesnut tree, marked by a colossal trunk, while 
the wide branching limbs, with their exuberance of deep 
green leaved foliage, tell the story of two hundred years. 

Under this massive chesnut tree, as the first glimpse 



104 LIFE OF 

of dawn broke over the battle field, on that renowned 
morn, there stood a band of men, in military costume, 
grouped around a tali and majestic figure, whose face 
marked him out as one of Nature's appointed kings 
and rulers. 

Within sight of this warlike group, with a hill and 
valley intervening, lay the plain of Chadd's Ford, back- 
ed by the hastily-erected tents of the American encamp- 
ment, and there, resting on their well-tried arms, were 
the brave soldiers of the American host, casting anxious, 
yet unfearing glances towards the western woods which 
lined the rivulet, in momentary expectation of the ap- 
pearance of the British forces. 

And while all was expectation and suspense in the 
valley below, this warlike group had gathered under the 
shade of the ancient chesnut tree — a hurried council of 
war, the prelude to the blood-stained toil of the coming 
battle. And the man who stood in their midst, with 
his tall form clad in the coat of blue, faced with buff — 
that man with the look of majesty and command — the 
open brow^, and the calm, yet steady eye — who was he? 

Ask the soldier the name'he shouts in the van-guard 
of battle — ask the dying patriot the name he murmurs 
when his voice is husky with the flow^ of suffocating 
blood, and death is icing over his brow and freezing, 
in his veins — ask the mother the name she murmurs 
when she presses her babe to her breast, and bids him 
syllable a prayer for the safety of the father, far away, 
amid the ranks of battle — ask the mother the name she 
mingles w^ith her tears — ask her the name she utters with 
the sigh, and the sob, and the tear of joy — the name of 
George Washington ! 

And as the sunbeams came bright and golden, through, 
the foliage of the ancient chesnut tree, they fell upon the 
calm face of the sagacious Greene — the rugged brow of 
the unfearing Pulaski — the bluff, the good-humored vi- 
sage of the gallant Knox — the frank, manly face of the 
brave De Kalb — and there, with his open brow, his look 
of reckless daring, and the full browned eye, that nevec 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEVVEES. 



105 



quailed in its glance, there was the favorite son of Penn- 
sylvania, her own hero, dear to her history, in many 
and oft-told tradition, the theme of a thousand legends, 
the praise of historian and bard — the gallant soldier — 
mad Anthony Wayne ! 

And standing beside George Washington, was a young 
soldier, wdth a light and well proportioned form ming- 
ling the outlines of youthful beauty with the robust vigor 
of manly strength and physical powder. His face w^as 
free and daring and chivalric in expression, his blue eye 
was clear, yet sparkling in its glance, and his sand-hued 
hair fell back in careless locks, from a bold and lofty 
orehead. 

THE CAVALIER. 

And who was he ? Not a soldier in the American camp, 
from the Green Mountain Boy of the North to the dar- 
ing Ranger of the wild Santee, but knows his name, and 
has his story at his tongue's end, familiar as a house- 
hold word. 

The gallant young Frenchman ! Friends and country 
he left, rank and power he defied, fortune and heredita- 
ry right he flung aside ; he crossed the ocean in peril 
and in danger, pursued by the storm, and surrounded by 
the ships of a hostile fleet. And why cast he friends, 
and rank, and hereditary right aside — why dared he the 
violence of the storm, and the danger of a death that 
watched his path like a spirit of evil destiny ? Why 
sprang he so gladly upon the American shore ? Why 
cast he wealth, rank, and life at the feet of George Wash- 
ington, pledging honor and soul in the cause of freedom? 

Find your answer in the history of France; find 5'our 
answer in the history of her Revolutions — the Revolution 
of the Reign of Terror, and the Revolution of three days; 
find an answer in the history of the world, for the last 
sixty years — and in every line, you will behold, beam- 
ing forth, that high resolve, that generous daring, that 
nobility of soul, which in life made his name a sound of 
blessing, and in death hung like a glory over his mem- 
ory — the name, the memory of La Fayette, 



103 . LIFE OF j 

THE EMBANKMENT. 

An hour passed — the council of war was over — and 
General Wayne looked from the embankments encir- 
cling a mound-like hill, that overlooked the plain oi 
Chadd's Ford ; he looked forth from the defence of a, 
deep ditch and a high embankment, and his eye was fix- 
ed upon the wooded steeps that arose upon the western 
shore of the stream, steep and abrupt, crowned with 
forest trees from the very bed of the rivulet. 

By the side of the gallant Wayne was Washington 
himself — in the rear, some two miles from the stream/ 
lay Greene, with a body of the army in reserve ; two miles 
below was Armstrong, with the Pennsylvania militia ; two 
miles above, as far as Brinton's Ford, extended the right 
wing of the army, under command of General Sullivan 

Thus arranged, the American forces awaited the hour 
of battle. It was Washington's fixed idea, that the en 
emy would either attempt the crossing of the Brandy wine 
at Chadd's Ford, or at Brinton's, two miles above, and 
in this opinion he was supported by all his officers. 

Not an officer in the army appears to have entertained 
the idea that the British might possibly take a circuitous 
route from their position, seven miles west of Chadd's 
Ford, and attempt the passage of the river above the forks 
of the Brandywine, at Trimble's or at Jeffiey's Ford, 
and thus be enabled to take the right wing of the Con- 
tinental force by surprise, attack it on the flank, and in 
the sudden flush of success arising from an unexpected! 
attack, complete the route and dismay of the army of 
Washington. 

This idea, I say, was not entertained by an officer ini 
the army. The attack was looked for from either Chadd's 
or Brinton's Ford, and in the vicinity of these two points 
lay the American army, anxious and eager for the com- 
mencement of a battle, upon which hung the fate of the 
nation. 

THE HESSIANS. 

It was early in the morning that the glance of Wayne 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. lO'i' 

was met by the gleam of sword and bayonet, from the 
woods on the opposite side of the stream, and presently 
the Americans beheld emerging along the brows of the 
opposite hills, the large, burly forms of Hessian soldiers, 
marked by a profusion of heavy accoutrements, the lofty 
cap, bushy with fur, the massive sword, the musket and 
bayonet, and the knapsack, strapped to the broad back 
of each soldier, with intricate crossings of cord and buck- 
skin. 

In an instant, the cannon of Wayne uttered a volume 
of smoke that rolled in folds of gloomy grandeur high up- 
ward in the azure heavens ; in another instant had the 
rifle bands, under the brave Maxwell and the gallant 
Porterfield, sprang from the embankment down on to the 
meadow of the Brandywine ; in another moment, the 
massive trees overlooking that quiet stream received the 
daring rangers within their shadow — they were met in 
mid-stream by the Yagers of the Hessian army, and then 
there was one fearful moment of death, of bloodshed, 
and horror. The shrill cry of the wounded arose for the 
first time upon the silence of that quiet vale — the smoke 
came sweeping upward from the depths of the green trees, 
and from the vast and gloomy folds darted the blaze of 
the rifle, whose aim was death, and the full and vivid 
blaze of the cannon, flashed over the plain like the light- 
ning glare amid the clouds of the mountain storm ; while 
far beneath in the middle of the stream, the opposing 
riflemen of either army met hand to hand and foot to 
foot, and fought with all the maniac energy of the man 
who fights for his own life and for the life-blood of his 
foe. 

The Hessians were driven back. Foot by foot, and 
step by step, were they driven back. They were driven 
back to the opposite shore, while the blood of their dy- 
ing crimsoned the stream, and the death groan bubbled 
upward to the surface of the water, as the vi-*;-^ - 
trodden down to the sand of the ' * 



108 * LIFE OF 



11 o'clock* 



And then, pausing on their arms, the Americans await- 
ed the renewal of the attack, but they waited for hours inij 
vain. It w^as not made when eleven o'clock came, and 
the sun was rising towards his noonday height ; and Sul4 
livan looked anxiously and eagerly from the heights 
where he was stationed, for the appearance of the enemy 
at Biinton's Ford, but they came not; nor could hij 
scouts give him any intelligence of the movements o. 
Howe or Cornwallis. 

General Kniphausen, he well knew, had made the at-t 
tempt to cross at Chadd's Ford, and had been noblj 
and gallantly repulsed ; but the larger divisions of the! 
enemy — where were they ? What was their plan oi 
operations? Where would Howe appear, or in whai 
quarter would Cornwallis commence the attack? 

All was wrapt in mystery to the minds of Washing,* 
ton and the leader of his right wing. This silence o; 
Howe and Cornwallis they feared had something o: 
omen — dark and fearful omen — of defeat and dismayj 
for its explanation. 

THE HORSEMAN. 

Eleven o'clock came, and Washington with Sullivai 
by his side, stood gazing from an elevated knoll, about 
half-way between Brinton's and Chadd's Ford. 

A horseman was observed riding up the hill side a; 
the top of his horse's speed. His attire seemed to b 
that of a substantial yeoman, but he was destitute of 
hat or coat ; his dress was disordered, his face coverei 
with dust, and, as he rode up the hill side, again am 
again he dug the spurs in the sides of his horse, whos^, 
eye glared wildly, while the dust and foam on his limbl 
showed that he had borne his master long and far. 

In a moment the horseman flung himself from hi 
horse, and rushed to the side of Washington. In hui 
riej words he told his story, and his manner w^as warr 
and urgent. He was a farmer — his name was Taylc 
— he lived some miles northward of Kennet's Squar 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 109 

early on thai morning he had been aroused by the tread 
of armed men and the tramp of war-steeds. He looked 
fi'om his window, and beheld the British army passino* 
northward, General Howe and Lord Cornwallis were 
with them. He believed it to be the intention of the 
enemy to make the passage of the Brandy wine at Trim- 
ble's Ford, and Jeffrey's Ford, some miles above the 
forks of the river^— and then to occnpy the high hills to 
the northward of Birmingham meeting-house, and thus 
having the entire right wing of the Continental forces 
laid open to hisTittack, Howe thought he might accom- 
plish an easy victory. 

This was the story of the farmer, and Washington 
would have given it credence were it not for one fear- 
ful doubt that crept over his mind. The surrounding 
country swarmed with tories — might not this be a tory 
spy in disguise ? He discredited the story of the farmer, 
though he enforced its truth by an appeal to an oath, 
and even continued to utter it, with tears in his eyes — yet 
still under the influence of doubt and suspicion, Wash- 
ington refused his credence to the story of Farmer Tay- 
lor. This mistake lost the battle of Brandy ivine. 

Soon after this incident, Sullivan received informa- 
tion by the hands of Lieutenant Colonel Ross, that the 
enemy had just passed the forks of the Brandy wine, 
some two or three miles above the Fork, five thousand 
strong, and provided with sixteen or eighteen field pieces. 

No sooner was this information transmitted to Wash- 
ington, than he ordered Sullivan to advance towards the 
Forks, and attack this division of the enemy. But as 
Sullivan is about to undertake this movement, fresh 
scouts come in, and report no intelligence of the British 
army wdiatever in the quarter named. The movement 
was postponed ; and w^hile Sullivan was thus shifting 
from one opinion to another, while Washington, with 
Wayne, was expecting the attack at Chadd's Ford, 
through this unfortunate contradiction of conflicting in- 
telligence, the enemv was allowed to take a secure and 
10 



110 'LirE OF 

powerful position, some three miles north-east of Brm- 
ton's Ford, and some four miles from Chadd's Ford. 

Let me transport my readers from this scene j along 
the banks of the Brandy wine to one of the principal bat-* 
tie-fields of the day — the battle-field around Birmingham 
meeting-house. 

THE BATTLE. 

The word of command was given. It passed fi'om 
the lips of Howe, and along the whole line streamed the 
blaze of musquetry and the roar of cannon^ and around 
the hill-side circled the white smoke, in vast and airy- 
folds, and then the death-hail rattled along the American 
lines, and the ground was strewed with the dying and 
the dead. 

A single moment 1 The voice of Sullivan was heard 
along the American line, and from the heights to the 
south, a stunning report burst upon the air — the quick 
and piercing musket shot, the crack of the rifle, and the 
roar of cannon — and then the southern hiils were wrapt 
in smoke and gloom, while the Quaker meeting-house 
was all alive with reflected blaze and death-shot, flash- 
ing from each window, from every nook and cranny. 

Another moment f That loud shout — the clash of 
swords — what means it ? The order rings along the 
British line to charge ! And along the Continental co- 
lumns it is given back, in redoubled echo, " Charge for 
your God, for Washington, and right!" 

THE FIGHT, HAND TO HAND. 

And then, while over hill and valley arose the dim and 
darkening smoke, sweeping from either hill, at the top 
of their horses' speed, the troopers of the armies met — 
sword to sword, fighting for life, they met! 

Another moment of blood and horror ! The Ameri- 
cans fight bravely — they fight, each man of them, as 
though the issue of the field depended on his separate 
hand and blow — but in vain — in vain ! 

The enemy swarm from the opposite hill — rank after 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. Ill 

rank, column after column, they swarm, superior in force, 
superior in arms to the brave Continental yeoman! 

THE CHARGE. 

Again they advance to the charge — again they breast 
the foe — but now! They weaver — they fall back — Sul- 
livan beholds his right wing in confusion — back, step 
by step, they retreat, and now the fight thickens around 
the grave-yard and the meeting-house. They came 
rushing up the hill, the British troopers — swords raised, 
and steeds ready for the charge, they came sweeping up 
the hill, while the shout of carnage and havoc echoes 
from lip to lip. 

Another njoment, and they will havegainedthe grave- 
yard front. All is calm about the meeting-house — not 
a rifle-blaze streams from the windows — not a musket 
shot peals from the gi'ave-yard wall. 

On sw^eep the British troopers — behind them follow 
the infantry, wdth fixed bayonets — before them flee the 
Continental forces! The road-side is gained, and the 
gallant array are breasting the grave-yard wall — they 
are rearing their horses for the leap — a single instant, 
and they will have passed the barrier — wdien lo ! start- 
ing as from the very earth, a long line of bold back- 
woodsmen spring up from behind the wall — their rifles 
poised at the shoulder, and that sudden and fatal aim 
securely taken! 

How the faces of the bold backwoodsmen gleam — 
how their eyes sparkle as the vivid blaze of their pieces 
flashes over the wall — and around, falling from their 
steeds and toppling from their war-horses, are the stout 
red-coats, grimly grasping their swords, while over their 
prostrate bodies rush the advancing lines of charging 
bayonets. 

The American forces rally for a moment — the com- 
batants fill the grave-yard — that quiet grave-yard over- 
hung by one gloomy cloud of smoke — the fight is fierce, 
and short, and desperate. 



112 LIFE OF 



THE RETREAT^ 

The brave Continentals are swept before the superioE^ 
forces of the enemy — again is Sullivan's division thrown] 
into confusion — and now springing past over the bodies 
of Britisher and Continental, the hordes of the invaderi 
sweep on in pursuit of the flying host ! 

And as they sweep on, amid the heaps of dying and 
of dead that strew the grave-yard, there is one slender,, 
yet manly form, stretched prostrate over a green mound,, 
his back to the grave, his face to the heavens, while from 
his gaudy attire, near his heart, swells the current of hi&-5 
life's blood ! 

It is the grave-yard and the rustic temple of his dream;,; 
and the heir of proud Northumberland lays stark andl 
stiff, side by side with the meanest of the British host ! 

They buried him where he fell. To this day, his 
grave — tombless and grass- grown — is pointed out to the 
wandering traveller, whilethe legend of his strange dream 
is told with a sincerity that marks its undoubted cred- 
ence among the valley people. 

And now Cornvvallis shouts to his brigade in reserve, 
and now Howe whistles on the war-dogs in the rear, 
and the Continentals are in full retreat for yonder wood 
half a mile south of the meeting-house. 

But that shout behind the woods — that peal of musk- 
etry — that tramp of hurrying legions I What means it ? 

WASHINGTON TO THE RESCUE. 

Washington is hurrying to the rescue, and with him 
is Greene, and by his side fights La Fayette! Pulaski 
is sweeping on with his troopers^ and then around the 
woods and over the plain, again dusks and darkens the 
mighty volume of battle-smoke I 

The Americans face the foe — they drive him back — 
they leap upon the bayonets of the pursuers, and turn the 
tide of fight by one bold, gallant effort ! 

And around, and above, and beneath, is flame, and 
smoke, and bloodshed, and the legions of Greene sweep. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 113 

on the fight, with the young Frenchman in the van, 
bravely flashing his maiden sword, and giving confidence 
and hope to the Continental forces by acts of almost 
superhuman bravery. 

And that form — that fonn mounted on a stout steed 
of grey — that form towering above the cloud of battle 
— rushing in the thickest of the fight — that form with 
the calm face and the clear eye — that form seen between 
the flash of the rifle and the blaze of cannon. Is it the 
form of a spirit, or the form of an earthly king ? 

The soldier looks upon that form ere he levels his rifle 
— the trooper gazes upon that form, and he grasps his 
sword with a vice-likegrasp — the legions shout the name 
of the form, and the troops of Pulaski send the name 
thundering to the skies, the dark and battle-clouded 
skies, as they sweep in that hurricane charge — the dy- 
ing soldier raises his head as that form sweeps past, and 
murmurs, with blessing and prayer, the shout — " J/iw- 
rfi/i— Hurrah for GEORGE WASHINGTON!" 

THE TERROR OF THE FIGHT. 

The contest was keen and desperate. The American 
right wing, supported by the division of Greene, was 
again driven back, and soon the Continental army was 
in full retreat in the direction of Old Chester. Wash- 
ington threw himself in the path of the retreat — Pulaski 
flung his men across the road side, and endeavored to 
stay the torrent — the young Frenchman, the gallant boy 
of nineteen, rushed into the very jaws of the pursuing 
enemy, and implored the disheartened fugitives to make 
one effort more, to strike yet another blow. 

All was in vain! While his arm was yet raised on 
high — while his voice yet arose on the air, and the shout 
for ^'Washington and freedom," La Fayette was wound- 
ed above the ancle by a musket ball, and Washington 
rushing forward into the melee, was entangled amid the 
enemy's troops on the top of a hill, south-west of the 
meeting-house, while Pulaski was sweeping on, with 
10* 



114 life: of 

his grim smile, to Lave one more bout with the eagei 
redcoats. 

Washington was in imminent danger — his troops 
were fleeing to the south, the enemy's troopers werc' 
sweeping up the hill-side on which he stood, and be- 
yond on a hill some hundred yards distant, was Pulaski 
with his men of iron, scattering a j^arting- blessing among 
the British troops. 

THE CHARGE OF PULASKI, 

Suddenly the Polander turned — his eye caught the 
sight of the iron grey and its rider ! He turned to hisv 
troopers, and his whiskered lip v/reathed with a grimi 
smile — he waved his sword — he pointed to the iron-gray: 
and its rider. 

There was but one movement ! With one impulsei 
the iron band wheeled their war horses, and then a darM- 
body, solid and compact, was speeding over the valleyj'' 
like an earth-riven thunderbolt — three hundred swords-j 
were glistening in a faint glimpse of sunlight — and in! 
front of the avalanche, with his form raised to its full' 
height, a dark frown on his brow, and a grim smile on 
his lip, in the very van, in the very front, rode Pulaski ; 
like a spirit aroused from the depths of the earth he rode, 
and his eye was fixed upon the dappled gray and its; 
rider — while the band had but one will, one look, onet 
shout, and all was for — Washington. 

The British troopers had encircled the American lead- 
er — already they felt secure of their prey — and Wash- 
ington was a captive, a captive in the heart of the Bri- 
tish army ! 

But that trembling of the earth in the valley yonder 
— what means it ? That terrible beat of hoofs — what; 
does it portend ? That ominous silence — and now that 
shout, not of words or names, but that half yell, half 
hurrah, which shrieks from the iron men when they scent 
their prey — what means it ? 

^* Pulaski is on the track — the terror of the British 
army is in our wake!" 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 115 

And on he came — he and his gallant troopers! A 
moment, and he had swept over the Britishers — crush- 
ed, bleeding, and dying, they strewed the green sod- 
he had passed over the hill — he had passed the form of 
Washington. 

Another moment, and the iron band wheeled — back 
they came, in that same career of death — with the shout 
and the yell they came — and, routed, defeated, and 
driven back, the remaining red coats fled from the hill, 
while the iron band swept around the person cf George 
Washington — they encircled him with their forms of 
oak, and their swords of steel ; the shout of his name 
arose on the air, and away toward the American host 
they bore him, in all a soldier's triumph and a soldier's 

joy- 

THE RIVULET OF BLOOD. 

And noW' our limits draw to a close. Why need w^e 
picture the disasterous retreat of the American army, be- 
fore the superior numbers of the Britishers, toward Ches- 
ter? Why describe the onslaught at Chadd's Ford, 
where Wayne three successive times drove back the 
Hessians, but at last was forced to fly ? And as for the 
bloodshed, the havoc, and the ruin of battle — the ground 
strewed w'ith wounded, the grave-yard filled with dying, 
the Quaker temple piled with dead — suffice it to say, 
that the British bought their victory with a good round 
treasure of men and blood — that they showed no dis- 
position for a continued pursuit — that the Americans 
crippled their army, although they yielded the field of 
battle to their overpowering force of numbers. 

It was in the full tide of the retreat that a party of 
Wayne's soldiers, some two miles below Chadd's Ford, 
sought the stream of the Brandywine, for they w^ere 
tired and exhausted with thirst. They rushed through 
the overshadowing brushwood — they stooped to drink 
of the waters of the stream, but they started back wdth 
horror. The stream was red with blood — dyed and 
crimsoned wdth blood, and this for miles below the field 
of battle ! 



116 ' LIFE OF 



THE BLACKSMITH. 

And now I have given you some instances of cour- 
age and heroic daring among those high in station andjgii 
renowned in fame. One instance more — an example oiU 
reckless courage. The hero was a stout blacksmith — 
aye, an humble blacksmith, but his stout frame harden- 
ed by toil, throbbed with as generous an impulse of free- 
dom as ever beat in the bosom of a La Fayette, or throb- ■ja 
bed around the heart of mad Anthony Wayne. 

It was in the full tide of the retreat, that a follower of! 
the American camp, who had at least shouldered a cart- 
w^hip in his country's service, was driving a baggage- 
wagon from the battle-field, while some short distance 
behind a body of Continentals were rushing forward, 
with a troop of Britishers in close pursuit. 

The wagoner had arrived at a narrow* point of the 
bye-road leading to the south where two high banks of 
rock and crag arising on either side, afforded just space 
sufficient for the passage of his wagon, and not an inch 
more. 

His eye w^as arrested by the sight of a stout, muscu- 
lar man some forty years of age, extended at the foot of 
a tree at the very opening of this pass. He was clad in 
the coarse attire of a mechanic — his coat had been flung 
aside, and with the shirt sleeves rolled up from his mus- 
cular arms, he lay extended on the turf, with his rifle in 
his grasp, while the blood streamed in a torrent from his 
right leg, broken at the knee by a cannon ball. 

The wao-oner's sympathies were arrested by the sight 
— he w^ould have paused in the very instant of his flight, 
and placed the wounded blacksmith in his wagon but 
the stout-hearted mechanic refused. 

^^ I'll not get into your wagon," he exclaimed, in his 
rough way ; "but I'll tell you what I will do. Do you 
see yonder cherry tree on top o' that rock that hangs 
over the road ? Do you think you could lift a man of 
my build up that? For you see, neighbor," he contin- 
ued, while the blood flowed from his wound, **I never 



CAPTAIN SAMUEJL DEWEL'S. 11 J 

naeddled with these Britishers until they came tramping, 
aver this valley, and burned my house down. And now 
''^m all riddled to pieces, and haint got more than fifteen 
ninates life in me ! But I have got three good rifle 
)alls in my cartridge box, and so jist prop me up against 
hat cherry tree, and I'll give em the whole three shots, 
ind then," exclaimed, with an oath, "and then I'll die!'*' 

The wagoner started his horses ahead, and then with 

sudden effort of strength, dragged the blacksmith 
ilong the sod to the foot of the cherry tree surmounting 
he rock by the road-side. 

In a moment his back was propped against the tree, 
riis face was to the advancing troopers, and while his 
shattered leg hung over the bank, the wagoner rushed 
dn his way, while the blacksmith very cooly proceeded 
to load his rifle. 

It was not long before a body of American soldiers 
rushed by, with the British in pursuit. The blacksmith 
D-reeted them with a shout, and then raising his rifle ta 
his shoulder, he picked the foremost from his steed, with 
the exclamation: "That's for General Washinsfton." 
Fn a moment the rifle again was loaded, again was it 
fired, and the pursuing British rode over the body of 
Finother fallen officer: T/m/'s Jor my self ^'^'' cried the 
blacksmith. And then, with a hand strong with the 
feeling of coming death, the sturdy freeman again load- 
ed, again raised his rifle. He fired his last shot, and as 
another officer kissed the sod, the tear quivered in the 
eye of the dying blacksmith, " And that," he cried, with 
a husky voice, which strengthened into a shout, " And 
that^sjor Mad Anthony Wayne !" 

And after the battle was past, his body was discov- 
ered, propped against the tree, with his features frozen 
in death, smiling grimly whilst the right hand grasped 
the never-failing-riHe. 

THE LAST SCENE. 

" The music of the battle, the thunder of the fight — - 
they have passed away; and the ^reen field sm.iles in. 



lei 



lai 



118 LIFE OF 

the face of heaven and the grass-grown graves rest smi 
ingly in the broad, bright beams of the noon-day hour. 
The Voice of the Past. 

It was a calm and lovely day in summer — the tim 
was morning, and the place the valley of the Birmin^ 
ham meeting-house. The place was lovely as on th{'J' 
battle morn, but forty-seven long years had passed sine 
that day of terror, and yet the bye roads, the hills, an 
the plains, were all alive with people clad in their holii"^ 
day costumes, and a long procession wound, with bar 
ners and with gleam of arms, around the base of Os 
borne's Hill, while in their front, the object of every eye 
and every look there rolled a close carriage drav/n bfl 
six magnificent steeds, and environed by civic soldierf' 
who rent the air with shouts, and flung wreaths of flow* 
ers and laurel around the pathway of the chariot. 

Slowly, and with peals of solemn music, with th 
bright summer sun above, the carriage wound along th! 
ascent of Osborne's Hill, and in a few moments, whil 
valley and plain below were black with people, the prano 
ing steeds w^ere reined in at the very summit. 

There was a pause for a moment, and then an aget 
man, with a wrinkled face and a sacred brow— an age* 
man, clad in the costume of the Revolution — approach 
ed and opened the carriage door. 

A tall and noble-looking foreigner sprang out upoi 
the sod, with the bearing of a man formed to win th 
hearts of men, with the manner of one of Nature's kings 
For a moment he stood uncovered on the brow of th( 
hill, with the sun shining on his noble brow, his expres 
sive countenance, and his commanding form. 

And then from plain, from hill, from valley, from thd 
lips often thousand freemen, arose one shout, — a thun 
der shout, went up to the clear heavens — '^ Welcomi 
THE Nation's Guest — Welcome La Fayette !" 

The stranger was observed to tremble with a strange 
emotion. He who had fought undaunted in the battle 
of that valley, forty-seven years ago, trembled like f 
child — the hero of two revolutions trembled — the teiTcu 



CAPTAIN SAMtrEL DEWEES. 119 

f European despots trembled, and leaned for support 
n the arm of the revolutionary soldier at his side. 

Again the shout arose on the air — the free, glad shout 
f a nation's gratitude — and La Fayette, gazed from the 
■.eight of that high hill, far over the surrounding coun- 
ty. There were hills crowned with woodlands — farms 
looming with cultivation, and dotted with farm-houses 
—luxuriant vallies — level plains, green with the fresh- 
less of spring — and far avv^ay swept the magnificent 
andscape, basking and glowing in the summer's sun. 

With one glance La Fayette took in this wide-scene 
—with one glance he gazed upon the ten thousand faces 
ipturned to him with shouts and joy, and those who 
itood by his side noticed the tear standing in his eyes, 
Awhile he murmured — "All — all — are gone now ! All 
)ut me and thee !" He embraced the revolutionary 
soldier by his side, and then clasping his hands, with 
he irresistible impulse of a full heart, he exclaimed 
igain and again : My God — my God ! — happy country 
—happy people — happy country— ^happy people!" — 
A.nd from hill and valley, and plain, again arose the 
shout — " Welcome the nation's Guest — welcome the 
iiend of Washington, WELCOME LAFAYETTE!" 

" Howie's original intention w^as to sail up the Dela- 
kVare to Philadelphia, but learning that the Americans 
lad obstructed the navigation of that river, he entered 
;he Chesapeake bay and landed at the head of Elk river. 

Anxious to prevent his approach to Philadelphia, 
Washington marched to meet him. How^e was not 
ready to leave the head of the Elk river before the 3d of 
September. On his advance Washington retired across 
the Brandy wine creek, and took post with his main body 
at Chadd's Ford, sending out General Maxwell with 
1,000 light troops, to skirmish with the British and re- 
tard their progress. 

On the 11th of September, the British army advanced, 
crossed the Brandywine at different points, and attacked 
the main army of the Americans, who sustained the as- 



120 • S^IFE ow 

sault with intrepidity for some time, but at length gave 
way."* General Washington effected a retreat with h'u 
artillery and baggage to Chester, where he halted, withir 
eight miles of the British army, till next morning, wher| 
he retreated to Philadelphia. • | 

The battle of Brandywine was the first in which Lc 
Fayette drew his sword in the American cause. He re- 
ceived a wound in the leg, but kept his position, anc 
continued to cheer and encourage the troops to the enc 
of the engagement. Several other French ofSccrs wer< 
engaged in this battle, as well as Count Pulaski, a Polish 
nobleman, who had also accepted a commission in the 
American army. 

Washington remained in Philadelphia two days, coL 
lecting his scattered troops and replacing his stores, and 
then proceeded towards Lancaster. 

On the 23d General Howe encamped with the main 
body of his army at Germantovvn, seven miles from 
Philadelphia ; and on the 26th, with a detachment of his 
troops, he took peaceable possession of the City." 

[See Frost^s United States, pages 233 and 4. 

Shortly after our arrival at Philadelphia, I carried the 

boots (I had brought with me) to Col. , who 

came to his door and received them from me, saying at( 
the same time you are a fine little boy, but never said as 
much as thank you, or offered me any thing to eat or to 
drink as a remuneration for my trouble of carrying them 
so great a distance to him. After delivering his boots to 
him, I returned to the barracks scratching my head, 



* Mr. Marshall in his lifo of Washington, vol. 1st, pages 156 and 7, sus- 
tains Capt. Dewees' recolleclions and statements relative to llie time the 
battle of Brandywine first began and ended. Mr. Marshall says: "In the 
morning of the 11th soon after day, information was received that the whole 
British army was in motion, advancing on the direct road leading over 
Chadd's Ford. The Americans were immediately under arms, and placed 
in order of battle, for the {)ur|)Ose of contesting- the passage of the river. 
Skirmishing soon commenced hetween the advanced parties ; and by ten, 
Maxwell's corps, v.'ith little loss on cither side, was driven over the Brandy- 
wine below the (ord. He also names the hours of eleven, A. M., 2 o'clock 
P. M.. and at 4.3 o'clock themost regular and warmestcontest took place, and 
was n' t altogether ended until night caused a separation. It is true Wash- 
ington was retreating at dark." 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 121 

wishing at the same time that I had given them to the 
old farmer that kept us in our flight to Philadelphia. 

At 11 o'clock at night on the 26th, General Gray, 
aided and abetted by malignant and demoniac tories, 
attacked the army of General Wayne at the Paoli, about 
20 miles above Philadelphia, and drove in bis piquets 
with the bayonet's point. This attack was made in ac- 
cordance with Gray's horrid mode of warfare. He fell 
upon Wayne's camp in the dead of night and massacred 
56 or 58 of his troops in cold blood before he could form 
his men to receive or withstand so arch-bloody an enemy. 
" Wayne (in the language of Marshall) instantly formed 
his division ; and while his right sustained a fierce as- 
sault, directed a retreat by the left, under cover of a few 
regiments who, for a short time, withstood the violence 
of the shock." 

These poor fellows fell by the hand of Gray and his 
soldiers as did Col. Baylor's troop of light dragoons 
the year after (1778) at Tappan by the bayonet alone, 
and under circumstances such as to affix the appellation 
of assassin upon that officer (Gray,) and to stamp him 
with cowardice and meanness, and to render him an ob- 
ject of just hatred in the estimation of every honorable 
mind. 

"But in no instance did the enemy evince more fero- 
cious, unrelenting cruelty than in their attack upon 
Colonel Baylor's troop of Light Dragoons, While 
asleep in a barn at Tappan, they were surprised by a 
party under General Gray, who commanded his soldiers 
to use the bayonet only, and to give the rebels no quar- 
ter. Incapable of defence, they sued for mercy. But 
the most pathetic supplications were heard without 
awakening compassion in the commander. Nearly one 
half of the troop [regiment] were killed. To many, re- 
peated thrusts were given as long as signs of life remain- 
ed. Several w^ho had nine, ten and eleven stabs through 
the body, and were left for dead, afterwards recovered. 
A few escaped, and forty [the w^hole of the 4th troop] 
11 



122 LIFE OF 

were saved by the humanity of a British Captain, wh-G 
dared to disobey the orders of his General." 

[Hale''s United States, page 180. 

^' Three days after this affair. Colonel Richard Butler- 
with a detachment of infantry, assisted by Major Le€ 
with a part of his cavalry, fell in with a small party o; 
chasseurs and yagers under Captain Donop, which he 
instantly charged, and, without the loss of a man, killed 
ten on the spot, and took the officer commanding tht 
chasseurs, and eighteen of the yagers prisoners. Only 
the extreme roughness of the country, which impeded 
the action of the cavalry, and prevented part of the in- 
fantry from coming up, enabled a man of the enemy to 
esca})e. Some interest was taken at the time in this 
small affair, because it seemed, in some measure, to re- 
venge the loss of Colonel Baylor. 

[MarshalPs Life of Washington^ vol. l,p. 270. 

General Wayne did not invite, but demanded a Court 
Martial, which was granted; that tribunal honorably ac- 
quitted him, stating that he had done all that a brave and 
meritorious officer could have done similarly circum- 
stanced. 

The volunteer, military soldiers and other citizens of! 
Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Philadelphia city and 
county, and perhaps Schuylkill and Montgomery coun- 
ties have purchased 20 acres or upwards, embracing the 
massacre ground, upon which a mound has been reared, 
composed of the bones of the butchered, around which 
a brick wall has been built, and in front of the gateway 
thereto, on the centre of the top of the mound, a marble 
or free-stone monument has been erected commemora- 
tive of that disasterous night to the brave and unsus- 
pecting soldiery under the command of the bold and 
chivalrous Wayne. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 123 



CHAPTER V. 

The original design laid and possessed by Howe after 
the battle of Brandywine was to bring General Washing- 
ton to another battle, and for the purpose of giving loca- 
tion to the seat of war, under cover of his shipping de- 
termined to make a descent upon Philadelphia with the 
view of taking possession thereof. He accordingly 
pushed one division across the Schuylkill at a ford call- 
ed Fatland, and another division at a ford called Gor- 
don's. The American soldiers which were stationed to 
dispute their passage at these two points were forced to 
retire before superior numbers. Every obstacle in the 
way of a march towards the city being thus removed, 
General Howe with the main body began to move on- 
ward about midnight, and encamped on or near to the 
Ridge Road at some distance from the city. It appears 
that Congress and the people generally called for another 
battle in order to save the Capitol. Washington, how- 
ever, whose calm deliberations were always found judi- 
cious, decided against making an attack upon the 
enemy, thinking it better no doubt (in the crippled and 
unprovided state of his troops) to postpone his attack, 
and suffer Howe to take peaceable possession of the city, 
then and afterwards to make a descent upon him in the 
strength of his might and serve a military ejectment in 
the use of powder, ball and bayonets, and dispossess him 
at once and perhaps capture his whole army. This was 
an enlarged hope no doubt in the bosom of the com- 
mander-in-chief, as will be gathered from the following: 

'^ He had previously marched to give battle to his ene- 
my, skirmishing had already taken place between the 
front of each army, but driven from action by an un- 
usually heavy and cold rain, the gun-locks of the Ameri- 
cans were rendered useless, their cartridges became 
saturated with water, many of the soldiers were unpro- 
vided with bayonets. A fearful situation indeed with a 
%Yell disciplined army in his vicinity and ''scarcely a 



124 • LIFE OF 

musket in a regiment could be discharged, and scaree^ 
\y one cartridge in a box fit for use." He studying just- 
ly the safety of his army, withdrew and encamped at 
Warwick Furnace at some distance from the British! 
army. General Washington's reasons for declining to; 
give Howe batde in disputing further his entrance into 
Philadelphia were conclusive." 

[MarshalPs Washington, pages 162 and 3. 

Congress left the Capitol (Philadelphia) on the even- 
ing of the 18th Sept., and convened at Lancaster on the 
27th of the same month. That body afterwards met at 
Yorktown, Va. 

General Washington after having previously made 
many diversions against and descents upon the enemy 
for the space of the three months elapsing after the bat- 
tle of Brandy wine, one on the Delaware below the city, 
another at Germantown, and others at White Marshy 
Three Mile Run and Chestnut Hill with different de- 
gress of success, notwithstanding he was loser at Ger- 
mantown, owing in a great measure to a very heavy fogj 
which operated against him, retired with his starving; 
and almost naked army on the 11th of December inta 
winter quarters at Valley Forge on the Schuylkill, twen-i 
ty-five or twenty-seven miles from Philadelphia. Wash- 
ington's army might have been tracked from White 
Marsh to Valley Forge by the blood from their bare and 
mangled feet upon the hard frozen ground. In addition 
to this, their sufferings from hunger were next akin toJ 
those endured at the hands of a famine 

One day previous to our leaving Philadelphia, I was 
out taking a walk around the city,, on my return to the 
barracks I espied some fine looking cabbage in a back 
lot; I mentioned this to my comrades, and two of them 
and I agreed to go that night and procure a head apiece* 
Accordingly after dark we sallied forth and entered the 
lot, I had just pulled up a head and was leaning upon 
the fence waiting for my companions. Whilst in this 
position I was surprised and taken prisoner by a ^^ strap- 
2nng big"*^ negro, wh.o clasped my body fast in his arms* 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 125 

At this momeilt my comrades ran away and left me in 
the lurch. The negro took me into the house, crying 
out at the same time " I have got a thief," "I have got 
a thief," and I had not only to bear this mortification, 
but another, for he made me carry the head of cabbage 
into the house in my hand. There happened to be some 
company with the man of the house that night, and I 
was plagued a good deal by some of the gentlemen that 
composed the company. Some was for having this 
punishment inflicted upon me, and some was for inflict- 
ing that. The circumstance of the negro having been 
bailiff and catching me as he did, created some fine sport 
for them. The gentleman of the house at length asked 
me my name. I told him it was Samuel Dewees. 
Samuel Dewees, (said he.) Yes sir, was my reply. 
He then whispered to one of the persons present, and 
then asked me where my father lived. I told him that 
he had lived in Reading. He then asked me what my 
father's name w^as. I told him his name was Samuel 
Dewees. He next asked me what business my father 
followed. T answered that he w^as by trade a Leather 
Breeches maker. By these my answers to his interroga- 
tories, he found that he and I were second cousins, and 
he and my father first cousins, his father's father and my 
father's father having been brothers. This man's name 
was William Dewees, who was then the High Sheriff of 
Philadelphia county. 

He upon finding out the family connexion, did not 
strive as many do to deny the claim of kindred-ship, but 
told me to take my cabbage with me, and to come back 
the next day and bring my knapsack with me, and he 
would give me some bread, meat, potatoes, &c. I was 
very glad, however, to get off as I did, and the least of 
my thoughts then were about returning. Still, I w^ould 
have gone back again in a few days, but the British 
taking possession of Philadelphia in a few days there- 
after, Sept. 26th, 1777, we were forced to fly from the 
barracks (situated in what is now the Northern Liber- 
ties and laid towards Kensington,) and from PJ^iladel- 
11* 



126 LIFE OF 

phia. We were ordered on board of the shipping which 
contained the sick, as also the soldiers which had been 
wounded at the battle of Brandywine. We immediate- 
ly set sail up the Delaware river and landed at Prince- 
ton, Jersey. General Washington moved on with the 
main army to Lancaster. 

The British after they took possession of Philadelphia 
and whilst they held it, committed great depredations 
upon the friends of liberty residing in the city and for 
some distance around it, farmers particularly, upon whose 
substance they were continually foraging. I recollect of 
hearing of one farmer who lived in the Neck and who 
was continually harrassed by marauding parties. He 
had made a kind of a closet or safe under the first and 
second steps of the stairs leading to the loft, and was 
able to displace and place the front of the step in such a 
manner as to defy detection. In this his wife kept bread, 
meat, butter, &c. &c. One day he was engaged in 
digging his potatoes, which were of the finest kind. 
Having taken his cart out to the field, his wife and chil- 
dren had gathered of the potatoes which he had dug 
up and filled the cart body. In the after part of the day 
a party of British came and began to fill their knapsacks 
with the potatoes which the cart contained. At this 
time there were the potatoes of a number of rows dug 
and lying in little piles from one end of the field to the 
other. He told them if they were minded to take his 
potatoes he thought that they might content themselves 
and be very well satisfied to get them for the picking up 
from oflfthe ground, without taking those that his family i 
had already gathered into the cart. They laughed at 
him for his presumption to talk to them in that style, and 
showered upon him a deal of opprobrious language as 
his remuneration for his counsel and potatoes. 

After taking as many of his potatoes as they chose, 
they directed their steps towards his dwelling. He fol- 
lowed them thither. Their first demand was bread, 
meat, &c., and commenced ransacking in search thereof. 
He told them there was not any bread about the house. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. " 127 

This would have stood good for aught they could have 
done in their search, had not one among the youngest 
of his children, a child just able cleverly to talk, betray- 
ed the place of its concealment. When he told them in 
the child's presence and hearing that there was no bread 
about the house, the child cried out: yes, father, there is 
bread in there, pointing at the same time to the first step 
of the stairs. This afforded the British soldiers a clue, 
and they were not long in making themselves the mas- 
ters of the secret deposites. With the bread, meat, &c. 
hid in this secret cupboard there was a large crock of 
very fine candied honey, all of which became their booty^ 
and was borne off by them to camp, leaving not as much 
in his house as a morsel of eatable kind to supply his- 
children with a supper. 

GEN. WASHINGTON AND PULASKI;: 

Or, the UnknGion Warrior. 

A TALE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

Scene. — In the Jlmerican camp — the tent of Wash- 
ington. Time — September 10, 1777 — midnight. Per- 
sonages — 'Washington, Pulaski and Greene. 

The sky is changed and such a change ! Oh, night. 
And storm, and darkness, ye are wondrous strong,. 
Yet love is your strength, as is the light 
Of a dark eye iu woman. — Byron. 

Night had thrown over the earth its sable pall. The 
world was veiled in midnight darkness. The wind was 
high and blew a furious hurricane — and ever and anon 
the lightning gleamed luridly — and the distant thunder 
murmured hoarse and sullen as the Angel of Death^and 
it seemed to the beholder that the western horizon was 
a bed of living fire, — Pandemonium in miniature ! It 
was a gloomy, cheerless night. The rain fell in such 
torrents that it seemed as if the windows of heaven were 
again opened, and the dark waters let loose on the earth, 
and there were strono^ indications of a second flood. 



128 * LIFE OF 

Such WKS the state of things the evening previous to the 
battle of Brandy wine — and as General Washington sat 
alone in his tent, busily engaged in writing despatches 
and giving orders to his officers concerning the coming 
engagement, he was surprised and startled by the sud- 
den entrance of a mysterious personage, closely envelop- 
ed in a dark military cloak which, as he entered, he 
abruptly threw aside, and unfolded to the view of the 
Commander-in-chief of the American armies, a figure of 
uncommon height and symmetry. The w^arrior, for such 
the appearance of the unannounced stranger indicated, 
was habited in a military costume. A long straight sword 
or dagger hung at his side, and its jew-elledhilt showedl 
at a glance that the owner was no common adventurer. 
In his cap were long plumes of a sable hue, which waved 
gracefully in the night breeze. His proud and lofty 
mien seemed to wear an expression of melancholy. His 
forehead was high and pale — though it had evidently 
undergone much exposure to the rays of a scorching sun 
— his hair, which was as dark as the raven's, was short,, 
thick and hung in a thousand curls around his massive; 
brow — and his eyes, which were deep set, black and 
piercing, as he gazed around, flashed like a tiger's. 

As the warrior entered the tent, he bowed slightly to 
General Vvashington, but said not a word. 

' Who are you, stranger? your name and business?' 
was Washington's first salutation to the intruder. 

'I am a Polander,' replied the unknown warrior, ^and 
am come to join the American army — to enlist under the 
star spangled banner and fight the battles of freedom.' 

*Eh! an adventurer?' murmured Washington, sur- 
veying him with a look of distrust. The noble looking 
warrior quailed not before the withering glance of the 
eye of the American General. 

* I am an exile from my native land,' said the Poland- 
er, ^ my country has been overrun by fierce barbarians. 
Many of my countrymen and kindred have been slain, 
contending in battle for their rights — and the rest, who 
were too proud and fearless to bow to the power of the 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 129 

haughty conqueror, have been banished to gloomy Sibe- 
ria, to toil under Russian tyrants, and drag on a miser- 
able existence, more dreadful than death itself, in the 
horrid mines. 

' I fought long to free my country and rescue her from 
the grasp of her ruthless invaders. I and my comrades 
contended for freedom till the last, but the foe triumph- 
ed. We were defeated, vanquished — our country ruin- 
ed, our cities and villages sacked and burned, our tem- 
ples desecrated by the fieet of heathens and infidels, our 
soil polluted, our liberty and government subverted by 
the stranger, and our nation blotted from the annals of 
the world ; and now, I come with a patriot's heart and 
a patriot's sword, and offer ray services, my all, my life^ 
if it shall ever be requisite, in the cause of American 
freedom. I have left a land which was once dear to 
me, and it is no less so now, though it is lorded over by 
Russian despots wdth the most cursed tyranny — though 
its soil has been dyed, and its rivers crimsoned wdth the 
blood of my friends and relatives, degraded as it is, still 
it is dear to me, because it is my own, ray native land. 
We called upon the nations of tli,e earth for help in th^* 
day of our trouble, in the hour of battle we cried aloud 
for succor. When the Russian Autocrat, with his mar- 
shalled serfs and servile minions, Plaitoff with his wild 
Cossacks, and Suwarrow with his fiery legions w^ere 
swarmed upon the banks of the Prague and the Vistula, 
and were closing around Warsaw to crush us, we call- 
ed upon Europe and the w^orld, in the sacred name of 
Liberty, in the name of God to assist us ; to help us 
throw off the yoke of the tyrant, achieve our indepen- 
dence, and repel the foe ; but we called and entreated in 
vain. The inhabitants of the earth turned a deaf ear to 
all our supplication, and permitted the haughty Russian 
with his countless host to overrun the fairest and the 
loveliest land beneath the sun, and humble, and conquer, 
and trample upon a brave and gallant nation. Now, I 
have no country, no home. I am compelled by fate to 
seek an asylum from the rage of tyrants in a foreiga 



130 * LIFE OF 

land. I came here because it is the only spot on earth 
where I could hope to enjoy that freedom which is de- 
nied me in my own country, and here I thought I should 
find a home upon the sacred soil of America, the pa- 
triot's own land, where the Goddess of Liberty delights 
to dwell, to hover over its hallowed domain, and mag- 
nanimous sons, and shelter them with her golden wings 
from the wrath and oppression of the ignoble despots of 
the European world. 

^ Say, great General, dare you repose confidence in 
me, stranger, foreigner, exile, and outcast as I am ?' 

At the conclusion of this harangue, the tall Polish 
warrior stood in breathless anxiety, awaiting the reply of 1 
Washington, much in the same gallant and knightly at- 
titude in which Gilbert de la Marmont did when he 
stood demanding in marriage the daughter of the haughty 
old Baron Von Issendoff, in the proud ancestral hall in 
his famous castle, on the banks of the Rhone, in sunny 
France, in the days of the old Crusaders. 

Washington cast upon the warrior a stern glance, as 
if he would read the inmost secrets of his soul ; but he 
cowered not before the General's fixed and steadfast 
gaze. 

*0h! heaven,' exclaimed Washington, starting up, 
and with a quick step walking back and forth, still 
scrutinizing the stranger, ' who can I trust in these dark 
times ? Can I confide in you, an adventurer, and an 
exile from your native land ?' 

At this crisis, Gen. Greene entered the pavillion; the 
tall Polander bowed, and the American returned the 
salutation. 

^ You are a stranger,' continued Washington to the 
Polander; ' I know you not. I am unable to read the 
secrets of your heart. You maybe a patriot — you may 
be possessed of honorable intentions, and incited to ac- 
tion by none other than the purest motives that ever 
swelled in the breast of man ; and yet you may be our 
bitterest and most deadly foe. We are admonished by 
past experience, and by former precedents, to distrust all 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 181 

till they have proved themselves our friends, and worthy 
of implicit confidence by their deeds of valor ; and in 
these perilous times we hardly know who are our friends. 
For aught I know, you are a British General, come with . 
a lie in your mouth, enmity in 3^our heart, and a con- 
cealed dagger under your garb of pretended patriotism, 
to seduce us, spy our situation and then return to your 
master. It may be so. It is possible, nay, probable. 
But there is a frankness and sincerity in your language, 
a noble manliness in your expression and demeanor, that 
it seems impossible to be feigned, by even the most ar- 
rant villain, one most deeply skilled in deeds of sin and 
iniquity, the darkest and worst, but possessed only by a 
patriot, the truest and best. Stranger, we receive you 
into our ranks as a friend ; we divulge to you our secret 
plans; w^e admit you to our councils, and reveal to you 
our hopes and prospects for the future, and if, by your 
valor, you serve your country with that fidelity and 
bravery which is characteristic of your heroic nation, and 
with the enthusiasm of your valiant countryman, Kos- 
ciusko, you will give us ample proof of your sincerity 
and love of freedom, and will satisfy us that none other 
than the Genius of Liberty animates and induces you to 
hazard yourlife in fighting the battles of the free. But 
if you betray us, if you turn traitor, and desert the glori- 
ous struggle in which you are now engaged, evil will be- 
tide you. — At to-morrow's dawn you will have an op- 
portunity to manifest to the world your valor as a w^ar- 
rior and your fidelity as a patriot. 

* Yes,' said Greene, putting his hand on the hilt of 
his sword, ^our vengeance will fall upon your head, our 
steel will pierce your heart, though you be guarded by a 
legion of British soldiers, though you were in the heart 
of England, in the palace of the British King.' 

The countenance of the Pole did not even change 
during this speech, as the reader would naturally imagine, 
when such bitter insinuations and invectives were pour- 
ed out so profusely upon one who had such pure, holy 
motives in his heart; — but his blood boiled, his eyes 



132 • LlJ'E OF 

flashed fire, and he expressed his feelings in all the,ai 
warmth of Polish eloquence. ij 

*I call God to witness,' said he, 'that nothing buti)i 
the purest patriotism and devout and sincere love of free-|ir 
dom inspires and incites me, and encourages me to en-|i{ 
list under the American banner, and bare my bosom to| 
the sword of the Britons. — Ah, gentlemen, you willra 
know me better when you have known me longer. Itoi 
am Pulaski.' I 

It was enough. The spell was broken. The un-bl 
known warrior w^as no longer a stranger, for, although! ii 
he was a native of another continent, his fame had beenl 
borne on the wings of the wind all over the earth. 

The ensuing day, the 1 1th of Sepetmber, 1777, is me 
morable in the annals of the American Revolution for be 
ingthe one on which was fought the memorable battle ol 
Brandywine. It was on that bloody day, according to^ 
the historian, that both the Marquis de Lafayette and 
Count Pulaski first drew their swords in defence oii 
American freedom. 

Pulaski was a brave officer. His name will go down 
with honor to the latest posterity, and wnll ever be re- 
membered and venerated by the people whose liberty h& 
contributed essentially to achieve, as one of those bold 
and fearless spirits who disdained to be a slave. No 
one can ever revert to the names of Washington, Ma 
rion and Greene, without paying a like tribute of respectj 
to the magnanimous and patriotic Polander. 

While he served in the American army, he performed 
many brilliant exploits on the field of battle. He was 
in some of the most desperate and sanguinary engage- 
ments in which the Americans had to contend with the! 
veteran armies of England. 

During the Revolution, Washington committed to him 
many important and perilous enterprises, in the execu- 
tion of which he evinced much military talent and saga 
city as a commander, and performed them with his usual 
bravery, fidelity and patriotism. 

He acted a conspicuous part in the battles of Saratoga 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 133 

nd Monmouth ; in the former of which he fought brave- 
y and hand to hand, and blade to blade with Count 
)elando, a German officer, whom he w^ounded and dis- 
rmed, butwdth his accustomed magnanimity spared the 
.fe of his vanquished foe. 

Pulaski accompanied Gen. Greene in his Southern 
ampaign, and on the 4th of October, 1779, a little 
iver two years from the time that he enlisted in the 
American army, he fell mortally wounded, at the siege 
f Savannah. His career, although short, was bril- 
iant and complete. 



CHAPTER VL 

After retreating to Princeton from Philadelphia, we 
lid not lie long at that place. From Princeton v/e went 
Bethlehem, Northampton county, Pa. The famous 
tattle of Saratoga was fought about this time, it having 
legun at a place called Stillwater, on the 17th and on 
he iSth of Sept., and finished at Saratoga on the 17th 
.f October. Gates quitted not his grasp, but pursued, 
Irove, pursued, harrassed, surrounded and hemmed in 
he enemy by a succession of noble, daring and brilliant 
Qovements, until Burgoyne surrendered his w^hole army, 
Lumbering about 6000 men, as prisoners of w^ar to the 
American forces under his own command, — to Gates 
.nd his brave, firm and victorious band of conquering 
leroes. Burgoyne when he marched out, intent on mea- 
uring his forces with that of the Americans under Gen- 
ial Gates — intent upon making a trial of strength and 
filing the measure of his threat, that he would ''march 
hrough the heart of America," his army amounted to 
0,000 strong;, losing 4,000 men from the time he com- 
Qenced that trial of strength at the first battle of Still- 
vater on the 17th of September, until he surrendered his 
vhole forces at Saratoga on the 17th of October, 1777, 
12 



134 LIFE OF 



Isli 



Here it was (Bethlehem) that when the American sol, 
diers drew their grog rations, the following toast wa|| 
'' all the go :'" 



Success to the States and the brave General Gates, |( 

Whose coixduct in History will shine, 
In the year Seventy-Seven, by the assistance of Heaven, 

He pulled down the pride of Burgoyne. 

Whilst we laid at Bethlehem I went frequently to th' 
Nunnery, (which was used as a hospital) to see the Sur 
geons dressing the wounds of the wounded soldiers. —Jm 
Among the number I remember seeing two soldiers, on^Uo 
of the name of Samuel Smith, whose whole leg an* 
thigh w^as dreadfully mangled by a cannon ball. Thl; 
Doctors amputated it close up to the body. Smith retle 
covered and learned to be "a Tinker.'''' I often seen 
him after the Revolution. The other soldier was shon 
through the neck, the ball had passed in at one side anew 
out at the other. He recovered, but his neck was al 
ways so stiff afterwards that when he wanted to turn hies 
head to look in any direction, he had to turn his bod}^ 
therewith to enable him to do so. I often seen him alsc 
after the Revolution. 

The fair daughters of my Columbia, daughters as well 
as mothers, in this and other sections of my countrj 
never stood aloof in the hour of suffering, but came fon 
ward in womanliness to alleviate the suffering soldiers 
and smooth the hard pillows of the dying in their earn- 
est and anxious desires to manifest that innate tender- 
ness which they possessed in an enlarged degree. Noi 
was it to the wounded sufferers that the daughters o: 
Columbia ministered comforts, consolation and aid. 
No ! they spun, they wove and they made clothes and cov- 
ered and fed a starving and famishing soldiery. This b) 
the midnight labors often of their own patriotic hands. 

A STORY OF THE REVOLUTION, 

OR, THE NATIVE PEPPER-AND-SALT PANTALOONS. 

" The following is a bona fide fact, taken without 
mendation from the life of a mother in Israel. It wil 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 135 

how tliat there was an anti-British spirit in the women 
s well as the men of '76. I hope all the girls in the 
Jnited States will read it, though I am afraid some of 
hem, especially in the capitol of the country, will need 
dictionary to lind out the meaning of the terms wheel, 
oom, &c. The tirst is the name of an old fashioned 
)iano with one string, the other is a big house organ 
vith but few stops. JBut to the story. 

Late in the afternoon of one of the last days in May, 
76, when I was a few months short of fifteen years old, 
lotice came to Townsend, Mass., where my father used 
^0 live, that fifteen soldiers were wanted. 

The training band was instantly called out, and my 
d)rothcr that was next older than I, was one that was se- 
lected. He did not return till late at night, when all 
DA^ere in bed. When I rose in the morning I found my 
ittnother in tears, who informed me that my brother John 
divas to march next day after to-morrow morning at sun- 
ise. My father was at Boston in the Massachusetts as- 
s[:embly. Mother said that though John was supplied 
jvvith summer clothes, he must be absent seven or eight 
o[nonths, and would suffer for want of winter garments. 
There were at this time no stores and no articles to be 
Iliad except such as each family could make itself. The 
y>ight of mother's tears always brought all the hidden 
5trength of body and mind into action. I immediately 
),,isked what garment was needed. She replied '' panta- 

0, if that is all," said I, " we will spin and weave 
|iim a pair before he goes." 

Tut," said mother, " the wool is on the sheep's 
backs, and the sheep are in the pasture." 

I immediately turned to a younger brother and bade 
yliim take a salt dish and call them to the yard. 

Mother replied, " Poor child, there are no sheep shears 
within three miles and a half." 

" I have some small shears at the loom," said I. 
'^ But we can't spin it and weave it in so short a 
jftime." 



136 LIFE OF 

" I am certain we can, mother." 

"'^ How can we weave it? there is a long web of line 
in the loom." 

By this time the sound of the sheep made me quickej 
my steps towards the yard. I requested my sister ti 
bring me the wheel and card while I went into the yari 
with my brother and secured a white sheep, from whic. 
I sheared with my loom shears half enough for a web 
we then let her go with the rest of her fleece. I ser 
the wool in by my sister. Luther ran for a black sheej: 
and held her while I cut off wool for my filling and hali 
the warp, and then we allowed her to go with the re 
maining coarse part of the fleece. 

The rest of the narrative the writer would abridge bi 
saying that the wool thus obtained was duly carded an 
spun, washed, sized and dried ; a loom was found afe\ 
doors off, the web got in, wove, and cloth preparec 
cut and made two or three hours before the brother'; 
departure — that is to say, in forty hours from the cont 
mencement, without help from any modern improve' 
ments. 

The good old lady closed by saying, " I felt no weari 
ness, I wept not, I was serving my country. I was re 
lieving my poor mother, I was preparing a garment fc 
my darling brother." 

*' The garment being finished, I retired and wept ti 
ray overcharged and bursting heart was relieved." 

This brother was, perhaps, one of Gen. Stark's sol 
diers. With such a spirit to cope with, need we wonde 
that Burgoyne did not execute his threat of marchin 
through the heart of America." 

" Come strike the bold anthem, the war-dogs are howling. 
Already they eagerly snuff up their prey ; 
The red cloud of war o'er our fore&ts are scowling. 
Soft peace spreads her wings, and flies weeping away; 
The infants affrighted, cling close to their mothers. 
The youth grasp their swords, for the combat prepare ; 
While beauty weeps, fathers, and lovers and brothers^. 
Who rush to display the AMERICAN STAR. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 137 

•CoDie blow tlie shrill buffle — the loud drum awaken— 

The dread rifle seize — let the cannon deep roar ; 

•No heart with pale fear, or faint doubtings be shaken, 

No slave's hostile foot leave a print on our shore. 

"Shall mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters left weeping. 

Insulted by ruffians, be dragged to despair? 

Oh no — from her hills, the proud EAGLE comes sweeping, 

And waves to the brave the AMERICAN STAR. 

The spirits of bold Davis, Warren and Montgomery, 
Look down from their clouds, with bright aspect serene; 
Come, soldier, a tear and a toast to their memory, 
Rejoicing tliey'll see us, as they once have been. 
To us the high boon Tby our God has been granted. 
To spread the glad tidings of Liberty far, 
Let millions invade us, we'll meet them undaunted. 
And conquer or die by the AMERICAN STAR. 

Your hands then dear comrades, round Liberty's altar. 
United we swear by the souls of the brave ! 
Not one, from the strong resolution shall falter. 
To live independent, or sink to the grave ! 
Then Freemen fill up— lo ! the Striped Banner 's flying, 
The high bird of LIBERTY screams through the air, 
Beneath her. Oppression and Tyranny dying — 
Success to aie beaming AMERICAN STAR." 

''After some skinnishing on the morning of the 16th 
of August (1777,) Stark commenced a furious attack on 
the royal forces, Baum made a brave defence. The 
battle lasted two hours, during which he was assailed 
on every side by an incessant discharge of musketry. — 
He was mortally wounded ; his troops were overpower- 
ed ; a few of them escaped into the woods and fled, pur- 
sued by the Americans; the rest were killed or taken 
prisoners. Thus, says a British historian, in whose lan- 
guage w^e have chosen to record some of these events, 
' witliout artillery, with old rusty firelocks, and with 
scarcely a bayonet, their militia entirely defeated 500 
veterans, well armed, provided with two pieces of 
artillery and .defended by breastworks.' This was 
not the only subject of astonishment with which the 
12^ 



138 LIFE OF 

Americans furnished their enemies during this earn 
paign." — Frost^s United States. 

About this time, October or November 1777, ihi\ 
small-pox broke out in portions of the army, and m^ 
father was sent to take charge of the sick to a place when 
a considerable number of soldiers were encamped no 
far from Allentown, Bucks county, Pa. Upon my fath 
er's reaching there, a large house that had belonged to ; 
Tory was converted into a hospital. All the soldiers tha 
had not taken the small-pox, were immediately inocula:; 
ted. My father had a room (in this building) exclusive 
ly to himself, and had the care of all upon him. Hi 
drew the rations for the soldiers and dealt out the same 
to them, he had to superintend the preparation of vie 
tuals, drinks, &c. for the sick, and assisted in nursing 
them in their sufferings. 

My father caused myself to be inoculated with the rea 
small-pox, and I became very sick, the cause of this 
however, was with myself, I did not restrain myself a^^ 
I should have done, I did not keep from eating salt anc. 
strong victuals, I would sometimes partake heartily o 
my father's cooked meats, &c. My appetite was keen 
and I left nothing undone in my endeavors to satisfy it 
even resorting to novel methods to obtain what was satis-^ 
fying to it, one of which was to sharpen the end of j 
stick to a point, and after fixing a piece of bread iipor 
it, I would hide it behind my back, and "s/ij9 wp" tc 
where some of the soldiers were engaged in cooking sal 
and fat meat, and watching an opportunity, would dif 
my bread into their pans or kettles, and then run awa} 
and feast myself upon it at my leisure. I recollect thai 
once my father had some excellent gammon cooked, an& 
had placed it for safekeeping in a cupboard which he hac 
forgotten to lock, this I got at and ate it all, a mess suf- 
ficient for two hearty men. After this indulgence I feli 
very sick, and remained so for some time, or at least was 
a good while before I recovered my health properly. 

My sister Elizabeth was bound out about 10 miles oifJ 
and my father having heard that she had had the small- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 139 

pox, went for her and brought her to see me, as also to 
attend me in my sickness. She remained here until I 
recovered, and I may state until we both left after the 
decease of my father, which took place not long after he 
brought her to camp. A word or two more relative to 
my sickness. I was very sick indeed, and suffered much 
although there were in all but thirteen pocks upon me, 
the rest having struck in (or had not come out at all,) 
in consequence of my own imprudence. 

I had but got about again out of a sick bed, when my 
father, who was so- constantly among the sick, fell sick 
himself, and died in the course of three or four days after 
he was first attacked. I cannot recollect what the dis- 
ease was, whether pleurisy or fever. I believe, howev- 
er, that it was the latter. I remember that the disease 
was not small-pox. 

I have here a very singular circumstance to relate, re- 
lative to my father. In the room occupied by my father 
there was a fireplace, in which there was a fire, the 
weather being then rather cold. From that room we 
had to pass through another before we could gain the 
entrance that lead into the house. My father was very 
much deranged on the morning of the last day of his ill- 
ness, so much so, that it required two or three soldiers 
to keep him in his bed. Towards noon he had become 
somewhat easy, and had fallen into a gentle sleep. Dur- 
ing this interval of quiet, my sister and myself were sit- 
ting at the fire. When he awoke from sleep, he sprang 
suddenly from the bed upon which he lay, and dashed 
out of the room, passed through the entry, and out of 
the house. All within ran after him, in order to secure 
him and bring him back to his bed. The yard was a 
very large one, and in it stood a very large barn. We 
hunted about in the yard, and searched the barn over 
and over again, but could not find him. There were a 
number of fields upon the place, but there was one in 
fi'ont of the house, a very large one that extended from 
the house to the woods, and we searched for him in 
every direction, but without success. My sister and 



140 LIFE OF 

myself were sitting at the fire mourning about him, and 
wondering as to what could have become of him. In 
the evening he was seen in the large field and near to 
the woods, distant from the house about half a mile. — 
Whilst we were fretting about him within doors, all at 
once a soldier cried out: yonder is something white (he 
being without any article of clothing except his shirt)! 
near to the woods, and said that it must be Dewees.| 
He with the other soldiers ran and found that it was my' 
father. They brought him back to the house immediate-' 
ly. Where he had been wandering none knew, nor 
could any conjecture, but he must have been running 
about all the time, for his skin was very much torn by: 
briars and thorns. When he was brought back he was^ 
quite sensible. It being late in the fall and the weather! 
quite cool, he was very cold when he returned. Thosd 
that brought him back made him sit down at the fire, ini 
order that he might become w^armed. Whilst he sat 
down with us at the fire, he perceived us crying, and he 
told us that he was not long for this world, and bade us 
not to mourn for him. He then tendered good counsel 
to us, and commended us to the keeping of the God of 
Battles, whom he said was the orphan's God, and would 
protect us and take better care of us than he could, were 
he to remain with us. Some of the soldiers then help- 
ed him to get into his bed again. His words were true,' 
for he died that night. The soldiers upon the next day 
made a box (for coffins were things almost unknown 
among us,) and placed him in it, and buried him w^itb 
the honors of w^ar near to some bushes w^hich grew a: 
short distance from the house. Other soldiers lie buried 
near to that spot also. 

Whilst we were paying the last respect and duty toj 
his remains, some unprincipled soldiers had entered the' 
room we occupied, and taken a number of articles from 
his knapsack. The razors, box, brush, &c. which had 
belonged to my father were among the missing. This 
we discovered w^hen my sister and I w^ere gathering up 
his little eflfects (after we returned to the house) pre 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 141 

paratory to our setting out for the place where my sister 
Jived. 

We were now left orphans truly, in the camp of our 
country, and I may state without friends ; to whom then 
could we look for proper protection ? Upon the part of 
my father's comrades, there was manifested every dispo- 
sition of kindness, but what could their united friendship 
accomplish for us. They were without money, the gov- 
ernment had not the power to supply them therewith, 
and General Washington's every mental strength was 
aroused and in action to keep a naked and starving sol- 
diery together; and who I may ask, but a mild, amiable, 
patriotic, bold, energetic and persevering Washington 
could have done this? No one. He loved his soldiers 
and sympathized with them, and he shared in their hard- 
ships. Yes, he soothed them in their sufferings, and 
they loved him faithfully. Who w^ould have dared to 
have stood the injurer of Washington ? He, yes, he 
who would have met the bared steel of thousands in an 
instant. The name of Washington was talismanic, — all 
potent and deservedly so, his presence animated and 
cheered onward to duty, and his speech was the index 
and mark-time command in marching to the accomplish- 
ment of that duty. 

My sister and my brother Thomas were both bound 
out in the same family. I do not recollect that it was a 
Quaker family in which they lived, but believe that it 
was, as the inmates thereof had many of the habits of 
that people, this excepted, humane conduct, the off- 
spring of an enlarged possession of the milk of human 
kindness. For the residence of this family, my sister 
and myself at length started, and where we arrived on 
the same day. In this family there was another bound 
boy beside my brother, and of about the same age of my 
sister. This boy and my sister were taken sick, and at 
about the same time. The sickness I do not know 
whether I ever understood properly what it was, but I 
remember it was some kind of a fever. Their sick-beds 
were in a room up stairs, and my brother and myself 
made a lire in the room and attended to them.. 



142 



LIFE OF 



Not knowing that their sickness was of so dangerous: 
a nature as to produce death, and not seeing any degree 
of fear or anxiety manifested upon the part of the farail 
in their case, for the old people seldom visited them 
my brother and self being young, wild and inexperienced! 
were the more ready to sally forth in mischievous style,. | 
which no doubt caused serious reflections and regrets to 
both of us afterwards. They were flighty or delirious 
often, and it was fine sport to us to see them (after we [ 
would throw powder into the fire to scare them) jump , 
up and clamber against the w^all of the room. When; 
they would rise thus, we had to put them to bed by thel 
dint of our strength. This conduct was highly impru-i 
dent, and as injurious as it was imprudent. I dontw^ish' 
to be thought attempting to excuse or justify it, for 11: 
could not if I desired to do so, but it was by far, moreci 
the effect of thoughtlessness and an unchecked spirit ofj 
good humored levity, than it was that of a wicked orl 
wantonly cruel spirit. My sister grew worse, and on ad 
evening not long after, she died. We had told the old: 
people of her situation, but they manifested no great con- 
cern. When she was dying we called them, and they^ 
came up, but the vital spark was fast quitting its abode: 
of clay. It sped its way to Him who is a Father to the? 
fatherless, the orphan's stay and the widow's hope. The 
old people laid her out, and had grave clothes and a 
coffin prepared, and on the next day they took her in a 
light wagon to a Meeting House about a mile off, and 
they buried her in a grave yard attached thereto. My [ 
brother and myself accompanied them. This must have 
been late in the month of December, 1777, or January,,! 
'78. I remember that the weather was quite cold. The 
boy, although he lay very low, recovered his health again- , 
The old people, I recollect, bestowed a good deal morel 
attention towards him after my sister's death than they 
had previous. When I reflect now upon the little 
kindness manifested upon their part towards these two 
sufferers, I am ready to ask, how can any persons in 
life, that have come to the years of maturity, act so 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 143 

undutiful a part to tliose that lie upon a bed of languish- 
ing and death ? But are there not those to be found 
still, wherever we go, that have by their own unfeeling 
conduct in this sad extremity — this trying and dark hour, 
the hour of sickness and death, stigmatized themselves 
as cruel in the eyes of the humane, generous and just? 

Affection possessed by brothers toward sisters, and by 
sisters toward brothers, how pretty, how manly, how 
womanly, how virtuous, how just, how all-pleasing in 
the sight of that Almighty Being who is all affection 
himself, and whose course of life whilst he tabernacled 
here, where persecution, sorrow, poverty and sore trial, 
even death itself, was meted out to him — whose course 
of life was all heavenly affection, ministering to the 
w^ants, bodily and spiritually, of even his most malignant 
enemies. 

Let me exhort brothers to watch faithfully over the 
sick beds of sisters, and never for a moment to so far 
forget the duties they owe them, as to treat them with 
indifference or cruel neglect, but to let a tender hand and 
tender speech be ever extended to them. If the poets, 
but above all, if the Scriptures themselves call loudly for 
kindness and mercy towards strangers, how much more 
is it called for from brothers to sisters. Brothers ! Sis- 
ters ! pause in the solemn hours of sickness. Think, re- 
flect and act; act as rational beings, and let the currents 
of tenderness bespeak nature's manliness — womanliness 
— and let tenderness and the sweet feelings of kindness in 
action be the offspring that shall be borne along upon 
those currents. 

" Thus hand in hand thro' life we'll go, 
Its checker'd paths of joy and woe. 

With cautious steps, we'll tread ; 
Quit its vain scenes without a tear. 
Without a trouble or a fear, 

And mingle with the dead. 

While conscience, like a faithful friend 
Shall thro' the gloomy vale attend. 
And cheer our dying breath; 



144 * LIFE OF 

Shall, when all other comforts cease, 
Like a kind augel whisper peace, 
And smooth the bed of Death," 

I don't recollect whether there were sons and daugh 
ters belonging to the family or not, if there were I neve^ 
saw any whilst I remained in it. I stayed there unti 
towards spring. During my stay I helped to chop wood 
feed and take care of the cattle, &c. I recollect one jol 
which was mine twice each day, that of rubbing the legs ! 
of a mare with a rye-band, that had the scratches. — i 
Sometime about the 1st of March I enquired diligently i 
for, and found that the army laid at Valley Forge. J i 
told the man I homed with, that I was going on to camp '' 
he tried to dissuade me from my purpose. He saic 
every thing to me that it was possible for him to say, in i 
order to scare me, or fill my mind with fear. I told himi'i 
that I would go, and that nothing upon earth should be i 
able to keep me from joining my own regiment or some ' 
•other one if I could but reach the army. When he found i 
that I was determined to go, he gave me an eighteen,, i 
penny piece for all the labor I had performed for him dur-ilj 
ing the winter. I bundled up my little all and started; I 
early in the morning, bending my steps towards Valley; 
Forge. I cannot remember the state of the roads at this i 
time, but remember well, however, that my shoes were ; 
very bad. When I travelled more than half-way td 
camp, I became quite weary and hungry, and had re^ 
solved in my own mind that I would stop at the first 
house at which I should think likely to offer me some- 
thing to eat, I had not travelled far, after I resolved 
thus, until I met a soldier. I enquired of him the way 
and distance to Valley Forge encampment, and asked 
him also relative to a house ahead, at which I might be 
likely to obtain something to eat. He then asked me if 
I had any money. I told him I had none. He said he 
knew better, and with that he caught hold of me and 
took my eighteen penny piece out of my pecket. I then 
started off from him, and ran as hard as I could, andl 
being in a fretting humor at my loss, as well as in con- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 145 

sequence of my being very hungry and nothing in my 
pocket to supply me with food. Whilst running in this 
fretting mood, I met an officei;, who asked me what was 
the matter. I told him I was going on to join the army 
at Valley Forge, and that I had been robbed by a sol- 
dier of an eighieen-penny piece, which was all the money 
1 had possessed, and that I was then very hungry, and 
knew not what to do. He thrust his hand into his poc- 
ket and pulled out a five dollar note (I do not recollect 
whether it was Continental or States-money) and hand- 
ed it to me. He then bade me to hurry on beyond the 
first woods and that when I should get down into a bot- 
tom I would come to a tavern, and bade me to call 
there and get something to eat and to drink. His kind- 
ness made a deep impression upon me, so much so, that 
2ven now at this late day, after a lapse of nearly 67 years, 
fie sits on horseback before me as plainly as he did then, 
Lhe generous hearted, manly and brave looking soldier, 
on whose face the lofty frown of indignancy is strongly 
lepicted. 

After this officer gave me the money, for which I 
thanked him, he put spurs to his horse and rode on in 
pursuit of the soldier, whilst I went on my way rejoic- 
ing in a heart overflowing with gratitude to so brave 
and kind a friend as he was to me in the dark hour of 
my extremity. I soon arrived at the tavern, and done 
js the officer had directed me, and soon had victuals 
5erved up before me. I told the landlord and his wife 
low badly the soldier had treated me. After I had made 
1 hearty meal, 1 offered to pay them for it and some 
Irink, but they would not take any money from me. — - 
Perhaps my having told them of the affair or that of my 
seeking the camp in my boyhood, or both induced them 
;o refuse any remuneration. 

I had not been a great while there, and as I was about 
:o start, I espied the same soldier that robbed me ad- 
vancing towards the house, and w^as all covered over in 
Tont with blood, and being no little afraid at seeing him 
n this plight, thinking at the same time that he might 
13 



146 LIFE OF 

fall upon me by the way and kill me for having inform 
ed the officer of his conduct. I ran back through th( 
house and went out at a back door, and I think that ! 
did not stop running until I arrived at the encampraen 
at Valley Forge. I never knew how it was that he be; 
came so bloody, but had good cause to believe that thd 
officer who was so kind to me, had overtaken him anc 
struck and cut him with his sword, for when he left nid 
he was very much exasperated at his dastardly conduc 
in robbing me (then a boy) of my money. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Upon my arrival at Valley Forge encampment I imme^ 
diately enquired for the 11th regiment, it being (as J 
have before stated) the regiment to which my father anJ 
myself were attached. Having found where it laid, | 
went in search of a Sergeant-major Lawson, an old com 
rade of my father, whom I soon found. He was vert 
glad to see me, but very sorry to hear of my father' 
death. I told Sergeant Lawson how ill I had faree 
through the past v/inter, how little compensation I hae 
received, and of that little having been taken awayfroo 
me. I next told him how generously I had been be( 
friended by the officer that I met afterwards. In th 
course of a day or two Sergeant Lawson made know] 
my case to Colonel Richard Humpton, who took me M 
be his waiter. With Colonel Humpton I fared veri 
well. The Colonel was an Englishman, and had heh 
a Captain's commission in the old British service ii 
America, but upon the breaking out of the Revolution- 
he took his stand upon the side of the colonies, and join 
ed the patriotic army in defence of the rights and liber 
ties of the colonies. Colonel Humpton had a younj 
lady with him, whom he called his niece, but who be 
came his wife in marriage shortly after the Revolutionar 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 147 

war was ended. This young lady he was in the habit 
of placing to home at some distance from the camp and 
from danger, and with her he placed me to wait some- 
what upon her, and to take care of her. Miss Eliza- 
beth, although of high extraction, was quite unassuming 
and of industrious habits. She differed (as did all our 
Revolutionary mothers and daughters) from the ladies 
generally of the present day. She did not think it un- 
becoming or degrading to understand and do the duties 
of housewifery. She did her own sewing and washed 
and done up her own, the Colonel's and my linen, &c. 

Relative to her acting the part of washerwoman, I can 
speak confidently, for upon her w^ash days I always bore 
a part in her labors, and washed for her (as the saying 
is) ^Hike a major.^'' At one time he homed her in the 
family of a Dutchman not far from the Lehigh river. 
The Colonel sometimes joined us. The Dutchman was 
fond of fowling, and often used an English gun belong- 
ing to the Colonel, the touch-hole of which was bushed 
with gold. There was a large pond (or mill-dam) on or 
near to his farm, and it was much visited by wild ducks. 
This Dutchman often rose before day and went out and 
laid in an ambuscade and waited their approach. He 
being a good shot, would often kill numbers of them, 
and generally divided the spoils with the Colonel. 

The next place where he placed her to home was near 
to Somerset Court House, in Jersey. The Colonel had 
a wagon, four horses and a driver allowed him, and in 
this he sent his niece, myself and all his baggage to the 
above named place. The team was again driven to 
camp. 

Whilst we homed at Somerset Court House, a British 
officer had been captured and placed in the Court House, 
which was guarded by American soldiers. One morn- 
ing after getting out of bed about sun up, I noticed some 
men coming at a distance, and thought that they were 
American light horse. I immediately ran down towards 
a large gate at the road side, in order to see them, sup- 
posing at the same time that I might know some of 



148 • LIFE or 



them. I had gotten within a rod or two of the road as 
the front passed me. They were moving very slowly, 
and some of them looked at me. Casting my eyes towards 
the rear, I discovered by their regimental coats that theyi 
were British dragoons. I at this moment bethought me: 
that I was dressed in a Fifer's regimental coat and cap, 
with horse or cow tail hanging thereon, and instantly 
dashed away in an angling direction across the field,: 
and as swiftly as I could, not daring to look at or to 
stop at the house to awake Lady Elizabeth, but ran until 
I gained the elevation in the fields, towards the woods. 
Quickly after I had commenced to take ^^ French /eaue"| 
of them, I looked around and discovered that they were] 
moving very fast. Whether it was seeing me running^ 
at such a speed, that caused them to gallop off so furl 
ously as they did, I know not. They might havei 
thought that I ran to give intelligence to some detach- 
ment of soldiers not far off, and that they knew not was; 
stationed in the neighborhood. But if they had thought 1 
that I was making an instrument of myself for this pur 
pose, they might have hindered me by shooting me, and | 
there was the gate, at it they might have entered the 
field and captured or killed me. When I arrived near to 
the woods I looked around me, and discovered Somer- 
set Court House all in a blaze. I feel confident that 
not more than 15 minutes had elapsed from the time 
they passed me until the Court House was thus envelop- 
ed in flames. Before they fired the building, they re- 
leased the British officer, and sent him off by another 
route. 

Here I must remark that the Giver of all good was 
merciful to me in preserving me, an unarmed lad, and 
consequently without the power of selling my life at as 
dear a rate as I should have liked to have done, had I 
been attacked under any circumstances that would have 
enabled me to have fought in self-defence. I acknow- 
ledge the interposition of the strong Arm of the Lord of 
Hosts, for this same marauding band of assassinators 
killed several unoffending and innocent person? in cold 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 




13^ 



160 LIFE OF I 

blood on that same day, among the number a young mar 
who had been married but the day previous. I was ir 
their power, for I was within a shorter distance tharJ 
pistol shot. Shortly after I gained the woods, I beheld 
people with wagons containing their families and move-i 
ables, fleeing from the town and from danger. I staid 
out all day and knew nothing of the fate of Miss Eliza- 
beth until I returned in the evening. She upbraidec 
me in a very harsh manner for leaving her, and threaten^ 
ed that as soon as Colonel Humpton should arrive, she 
would get him to flog me severely. The Colonel, how-j 
ever, commended me highly when he did arrive ; he stated 
to her that I had acted with more sense and caution in 
the matter for her safety than she could or would havei 
done herself, "forbad Sammy (said he) ran tothehouse^j 
they might have followed him, captured you, andrecov-I 
ered my old British regimentals and papers, which migh1( 
have betrayed me into their power. She was of a for-i 
giving disposition of heart, and before he arrived shei 
had no doubt revoked her hasty decision. She spoke 
to the Colonel of my conduct upon that occasion, but 
did not ask him in my presence to chastise me for it. 
The Colonel's harshness at all times was of rather 
momentary cast. It would not have been a matter ol 
great surprise to myself if he had flogged me at her in-, 
stance, for upon the day of his arrival an accident oc- 
curred, which was well calculated in itself to have fret- 
ted him. He had a very valuable slut that he had broughtj 
from England with him, and which his niece had with * 
her on the farm where we resided. A dog in the neigh- 
borhood, which was in the habit of killing sheep, wasj 
often seen lurking about the premises. I had determin- 
.ed to shoot him if possible, and had procured a large 
leaden bullet which I had made into slugs for the pur- 
pose. With my piece loaded with these I laid in wait- 
ing for him. He at length came near and the slut spring- 
ing forward just as I was in the act of pulling the trig- , 
ger of the gun she received one of the slugs into her 
head just above one of her eyes, and which caused her to 



CAPTATN SAMUEL DEWEES. 151 

reel about for sometime, I thought at first that I had 
really killed her, but she was but little injured by it. I 
recollect that the Colonel besides cutting the slug out 
of her head, pulled my ear well for me, as ray punish- 
ment for the injury I had done; this, however, was a 
much lighter punishment than that which I should have 
endured within my own breast, had I been so unfortu- 
nate as to have killed her. 

The Colonel always seemed to relent his conduct of 
severity towards me, and so certain as he dealt in any 
way harsh with me he would shortly afterwards sing 
out *^boy," and when I would go to his room he would 
hand me a bowl containing some ^'good stuff'' — liquor 
(of which he always kept the best) saying " my lad" 
here is something to drink. This was a habit so pecu- 
liar with him and so uniform that his cook would often 
say to me when the Colonel pulled or boxed my ears, now 
Sammy we '11 get a good grog shortly, and so it was too ; 
and often when the Colonel was absent the cook would ^ 
say to me, " Sammy, I wish the old fellow would come 
home and you would do some mischief, for then we 
would get a good grog." Folks were not much worse 
in heart then, than they are now ; but they were better 
fellows of their grog then, than they are now. I could 
divide with the cook and the cook could as generously 
divide with me. 

From Somerset Court house. Colonel Humpton re- 
moved us to one Garret Van Zandt's, (not far from Cor- 
yell's Ferry) whose farm was worked by one Eber Addis. 
Coryell's Ferry is situated in Jersey, not very far from 
Trenton. 

The Colonel had a grey horse which had belonged to 
the adjutant of the regiment (his name was Huston,) 
who had been shot from off him at the battle of German- 
town. Huston having been killed when in the rear of 
the line, it was supposed that he was shot by some of 
his own men ; he was said to be a rascally and tyranni- 
cal officer and from the fact also, of his having been often 
threateaed by his own men (among themselves,) that 



152 LIFE OF 

he would be the first to fall in battle. Huston, after he 
was shot (although shot dead) hung sometime on the 
back or rump of his horse before he fell off. As some 
confusion took place in consequence of the great fog, 
on the morning of the battle of Germantown, it is pos- 
sible that he may have fallen through mistake as others 
of the American soldiers did by the hands of their own 
companions in arms. 

Whilst we were at Van Zandt's, a boy belonging to 
Van Zandt (and about my own age) and myself under- 
took to run our horses at times, and to jump them over a 
pair of bars in order (besides the amusement it afforded 
us) to see which could make the most lofty leaps, he upon 
a horse that belonged to Van Zandt, and I upon the 
Colonel's grey charger. With good judges and a purse 
up, I would have been sure of drawing it with the Col- 
onePs horse. 

For this mischievous frolic of the boy and myself, I\^ 
recollect that the Colonel not only reprimanded me harsh- 
ly but in addition pulled my ear severely. 

The Colonel set great store by this horse and such 
nianoeuvres as ours might have rendered him useless, ^jlj 
jumping him over such high obstacles, was well calcu-' 
lated to break a leg or otherwise injure him, and besides: ^^ 
this, we ^^ stood a good chance''' to have broken our own 
necks at the same time. 



CHAPTER VHI. 

From Van Zandt's, I was detached for a time to Wash- 
ington's camp not far from Stoney Point. At this time 
(about the 1st of July, 1779,) an expedition was fitted] 
out against Stoney Point, a strongly fortified post on the) 
Hudson river; this expedition was entrusted to the brave! 
General Anthony Wayne. I was one of the musiciansi] 
attached to the detachment. I do not recollect the num- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 153 

ber of men composing our detachment, but suppose it 
might have contained from 500 to 700 men. The num- 
ber might have been much greater, and besides other cov- 
ering detachments might have been out also. When 
about to set out upon the march sometime in the afternoon, 
drums were beating, colors flying and soldiers huzzaing — 
each soldier full of spirit and entering largely into the spirit 
of the enterprise and full of expectation as to the wish- 
ed for results. The order was at length given to march, 
and as we progressed therein we were ordered not to suf- 
fer our drums to make any noise, and on each man was 
enjoined the most perfect silence. A halt was called a 
little after sun-set, and I can recollect very distinctly 
:hat we were then so near to Stoney Point, as to be able 
3y climbing up into the tops of trees, to behold the Brit- 
sh soldiers walking backward and forward at the fort, 
[for one amused myself very much in eyeing them at a 
listance. General Wayne ordered the detachment on 
,n silence, leaving the musicians (or at least a portion 
)f them) myself included in the number behind him. 

In going into battle it was customary for the Drum 
md Fife Majors to send a '' Field Drummer" and "Field 
F'ifer" along and among their duties this one, the beat- 
ng a signal tune for an advance, another as a retreat, 
md a third as a parley, &c. 

As night closed in upon us, our British brethren be- 
came totally lost to our view ; more lost to view than we, 
eft behind could have wished, and whilst we were in the 
:ops of trees and could behold them, we were wishing 
;hat we could have been permitted to have accompanied 
;he detachment through all its movements. What our 
jtate of feelings would have been, had we been along 
ind the detachment made to smell powder in its war 
strength I now not, but imagine that we would have 
strove to have joined in singing out (as they did upon 
I subsequent occasion) the long to be remembered watch" 
^^ord of "remember the Paoli." In the course of two 
3r three hours the detachment returned to us again, the 
expedition having proved a failure, for in the midst of 



154 



LIFE OF 



all the caution upon the part of our commander and the 
brave soldiers under his command, the British discover- 
ed them sooner than it was expected they would hav 
done. Whether this was through the instrumentality o, 
scouters or of their piquet guards, I do not remember: 
General Wayne knowing well that this was a remarka- 
bly strong position, and knowing well also the bold anc 
hazardous nature of the enterprise, had the hope that h( 
could have pushed his men on in quick time in order tc 
gain the walls ere they should have been subjected tc 
any great fire from the enemy. Our General being thus 
far frustrated in his design saw proper to abandon the 
design of attack for the then time being, ordered a retrea 
to the American camp, but if he did, he successful!} 
carried his purpose about two week's afterwards in 
second expedition on the night of the 15th of July 
was not permitted to join in this latter expedition, hav^! 
ing been sent back (ere that day arrived) to Van Zandt'r' 
again. Its execution was again given to (Gen. Wayne 
and) the light infantry, with a brigade as its cover, anc 
Major Lee and his dragoons as reconnoitering support! 
ers. This was a daring assault and complete success 
crowned the bold effort. The American soldiers, prece- 
ded by a forlorn hope of 40 men in tw^o divisions, hav,' 
ing rushed forward up the precipice and gained the walh 
or outer barricades, which consisted of several breasti 
works and strong batteries, which were constructed. Ii 
advance of these and below them, two rows of abattis 
had been constructed also. The attack was made abou^ 
midnight and the works taken by storm, although the as- 
saulters were subjected to a tremendous discharge oi 
grape shot and musketry — General Wayne made a des- 
perate attack with unloaded muskets and had therefore 
to depend for success entirely upon the bayonet's point. 
After a short but very obstinate defence the fortress was 
carried by storm, and the garrison surrendered. Wayne 
killed 63 in the attack, among which were two officers, 
captured 543 British soldiers and became possessed 
of a considerable quantity of ordnance, ammunition and 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 155 

military stores. This was a most gallant exploit — few if 
any were more so, during the revolutionary struggle. It 
was looked upon as among the most brilliant achieve- 
ments of the American arms, Wayne (it was said) when 
passing through a deep morass, previous to his gaining 
the bottom of the ledges of rocks up which a portion of 
the detachment passed, sunk deep into the mire and in 
pulling his foot up, pulled it out of his boot, he then 
stooped down and plucked his boot out of the mud and 
carried it in his hand and pushed his men forward in his 
stocking foot, not even taking time to draw it on. In 
taking this post General Wayne was slightly wounded 
in the attack, but recovered and pushed forward and an- 
imated his men by bold language, as well as by the un- 
daunted courage he displayed. *^ Remember the Paoli" 
was their watch-word, in addition to the watch-word of 
Major Posey, uttered when he first mounted the works, 
" the Fort's our own." The conduct of General Wayne, 
his officers and men under his command reflected a proud 
honor and shed a lustre of hallowed glory around the 
occasion. The cold and bloody massacre at the Paoli 
was fresh in their recollections, and although the retalia- 
ing watch- word '* remember the Paoli," was reiterated 
by officers and men, yet glorious to say, not a man was 
injured in his person by Wayne, his officers and soldiers 
after resistance ceased. 

A short time after this success another followed, that 
of the capture of Paulus-Hook. The expedition against 
this post was entrusted to General Lee, and it was an 
enterprise equally hazardous with that of Stoney Point. 
Lee with several detachments amounting in all to about 
1100 men, the most of whom were posted at different 
rods as covering parties to secure his retreat. The 
works were strongly constructed and were well guard- 
ed, but Lee with his brave companions in the enterprise 
entered their works by storm and captured 160 prisoners 
with a loss of two Americans killed and three wound- 
ed. 

These brilliant achievements elevated the spirits of 



156 LIFE Of 

the American soldiery every where and elevated their 
character greatly. They braced the friends of Liberty 
throughout the colonies and gave spring to their actions ; 
elevated the fame of our military in the eyes of our en- 
emies and taught them, that although we were "buckskin 
boys," we could go as far and as boldly and fearlessly 
to the work voluntarily, without proper pay, proper food 
and clothing for Liberty's sake, as they "invincibles (as 
they often styled themselves) could for the crown or for 
the love of conquest with pay and an "unequalled dis- 
cipline," and the "most skilful and unsurpassed officers"' 
of their British legions; in short, these bold exploits an-' 
imaled officers and men, they stimulated Congress to ai 
more enlarged action, they gave us confidence at home; 
and they elevated us abroad, and reduced our enemy's; 
force; they taught them lessons of honor and humbled! 
their pompous and stinking pride. j 

On the22d of August, '79, General Sullivan marched! 
with a large detachment against the Indians of the val- \ 
ley of the Wyoming, then engaged in the most horrid 'i 
and fearful destruction of the frontier settlers — the Indians \ 
were instigated to these savage barbarities by the British. \ 
Among these were six whites that for savage and awful- 
ly malignant propensities, inciting them to bloody and 
murderous deeds could scarcely have been equalled or 
possessed by the red men of the forest whom they led 
on and instigated to commit the most appalling atrocities. 
General Sullivan penetrated their territory with an army 
of about 5,000 men and encountered about 1500 Indians, 
including 200 whites, lodged behind a breast-work of 
nearly'half a mile in length constructed upon an eminence 
wdth its right extending to a river. General Sullivan 
having disposed of his troops in proper order gave the 
signal for an attack; Major Par led the advance and a 
continual skirmishing was kept up between this corps 
and those of the Indians that ventured out of their works. 

General Hand with the infantry aided by the artillery, 
made a vigorous and spirited attack on the works in 
front, whilst General Poor with infantry and riflemen 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 157 

rushed up the hill and turned the enemy's left and made 
a mighty charge upon them in his rear. The conflict 
was a severe one, although the American loss did not 
exceed thirty. The loss of the Indians on the occasion 
was much less than could have been expected. Gen- 
eral Sullivan, however, pushed his conquest until he 
drove them to some considerable distance beyond their 
settlements, enforcing as he went the very severe and 
(seeming) cruel but highly called for necessary orders 
he had received from government, *'to render the couiir 
try completely uninhabitable for the present." He des- 
troyed their '^ houses, corn-fields, gardens and fruit- 
trees." 

My view of the course I beheld, so fully expressed 
by Mr. Marshall in his most excellent work, the life of 
General Washington ; a work that all families, able to 
possess should lose no time in procuring, it is a rich text- 
book of revolutionary doings — I take the liberty of pre- 
senting his views in an extract. I do it the more will- 
ingly in my desires, to aid in silencing what I consider a 
false clamor raised against the course pursued by our 
young Republic towards the aborigines of the vast wild- 
erness wilds of America. I could not, nor would I 
knowingly dare for a moment to back injustice against 
innocence. Nor would I dare for a moment to back that 
injustice, or that unjust course which would give to the 
foreign enemies of my birth-land even a temporary foot- 
hold within my country — the employment of ah Indian 
ally, or a hiding place therein through their trinket pur- 
chased instrumentality. It must be remembered that the 
year before (1778,) had been marked by one among the 
most awful Indian massacres that perhaps ever fell to the 
the lot of any historian to record. 

"The devastation of the country has been spoken of 
with some degree of disapprobation ; but this sentiment 
is the result rather of an amiable disposition in the hu- 
man mind to condemn whatever may have the appear- 
ance of tending to aggravate the miseries of war, than 
of reflection ; circumstances existed which reconciled to 
14 



158 • LIFE OF 

humanity this seeming departure from it. Great Britain 
possessed advantages which ensured a controlling influ- 
ence over the Indians, and kept them in almost contin- 
ual war with the United States. Their habitual feroci- 
ty seemed to have derived increased virulence from the 
malignity of the whites, who had taken refuge among 
them ; and there was real foundation for the opinion that 
an annual repetition of the horrors of Wyoming could be 
prevented only by disabling the savages from perpetra- 
ting them. No means in the power of the United States 
promised so certainly to effect this desirable object, as 
the removal of neighbors whose hostility could be di- 
minished only by terror, and whose resentments were 
to be assuaged only by fear." 

General Sullivan after remaining some time in the In- 
dian country and endeavoring to overawe the savages 
to an implicit submission, returned to Easton, Pa. This 
expedition had a direct tendency to cripple the Indians 
in that quarter and deter them from committing any very 
great depredations for some considerable time thereafter. 

History informs us that in the region of country on 
the Alleghany river above Pittsburgh, a strong force was 
despatched in order to overawe the Indians and pro- 
tect the whites from the scalping knife and tomahawk | 
of the ruthless hoardes of savages that were cutting off the 
inhabitants of that quarter. 

I do not recollect any thing that transpired worthy of] 
notice after I returned to Van Zandt's until I was again 
transferred from there by the orders of Colonel Humpton, 
sometime during the fall of 1779, to some military post 
not far distant from West Point, w^here I remained for 
the most part (except when detached for a time to Crown 
Point) until after the execution of Major Andre, Adju- 
tant General of the British army, who was hanged as a 
spy in the fall of 1780. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 159 



CHAPTER IX. 

When we arrived at West Point, it seemed to me that 
there was nothing in the country but encampments and 
none other inhabitants but soldiers. It was a strong 
and important Military Post. Here the Commander had 
concentrated a very great force. Soldiers were often 
arriving and often departing. There were a number of 
Forts in the vicinity of West Point, Forts Lee, Putnam, 
Arnold, Defiance. ****** 

These Forts were situated on high bluffs near to and 
commanding the North river. Our encampment w^as on 
the high or level land nearly a mile from the river. — 
There were two or three brigades of soldiers laid here. 
New Windsor (now perhaps called Newbury) was about 
5 miles up the river, and was a great apple market, and 
to which many of us (soldiers) often repaired to purchase 
apples. 

The parade ground attached to our encampment at 
this post, was the prettiest I ever saw any where dur- 
ing the Revolution. The soldiers quartered in log huts. 
These huts were built in two rows, with 15 or 20 feet 
space between the rows, and extended for more than a 
mile. Very many of these huts were built at the time I 
was there with my father in 1777. The duty of the 
" Camp-colour men" were to level the parade ground 
and keep it swept clean every day. West Point was a 
strong military post. It is true it might have been cap- 
tured by a very strong force even at this time, with all 
the military force concentrated there, but in consequence 
of there being so many forts along the river and other 
almost impregnable barriers, it could justly have been 
termed a strong position. Below or opposite to the 
lower forts a great iron chain was stretched across the 
river from shore to shore, and rested upon buoys or upon 
timbers to bear it up to within a proper distance of the 
surface of the water. The object of placing this chain 
across the river, was to bar the enemy's shipping from 



160 LIFE OF I 

ascending the river. I am fully of the opinion that each 1 
link composing this chain was from 3 to 4 feet in length, i 

and from 3 to 4 inches in thickness, and weighed | 

lbs. This chain* being sunk so as to be cleverly under jj 
water, it was quite amusing to behold large Sturgeon 
pitching up above it, and then be caught upon it and lie 
dashing and fluttering about for a considerable length of 
time, at times, before they would succeed in extricating 
themselves from their iron elevated position of uneasi- 
ness. With all these impediments, to which were added 
floating and stationary batteries, upon which heavy ord- 
nance were planted and which in an emergency would 
undoubtedly have been well manned, I should think 
that nature and art combined would have been heavily 
taxed, and would have had hard w^ork to have pushed 
a vessel up the river above where this great chain lay 
moored." 

Colonel Humpton frequently took me wdth him (whilst; 
at West Point and other military posts) to ride "the 
patrols'' at night. It being generally very late in the; 
night when we would go these rounds, I very frequent- 
ly got very sleepy and would linger behind him. When 
I would do this, he would stop his horse until I would 
ride up to him, he would then quietly reprimand me, 
telling me at the same time that I did not know the dan- 
ger I was in, and for me to keep close and quietly be- 
hind him. This going the grand rounds the Colonel 
was quite fond of, although a dangerous duty, especial- 
ly w^here there w^ere ignorant and cowardly men set as 
piquet guards. As he would advance towards a piquet 

*Tlie author, iu consequence of Capt Dewees' imperfect recollection of 
the leni^th, thickness and weight of its links, was induced to address a note 
to a very worthy and highly intelligent gentleman of bis acquaintance [Mr. 
Burd«ell, Principal o( the Manchester Academy] upon the subject, he hav- 
ing understood that that gentleman had seen one of the links at some point 
towards the North. Mr. Bardwell with that retiring modesty and love of 
truth which characterizes the man, stated in a kind note, briefly in return that 
be had somewhere seen an account of the estimated length and thickness of 
each link, and stated that his then present impressions were, that the length; 
of its links was from 2 to 3 feet, and their thickness was from 2^ to 3 inches.. 
Captain Dewees is of the opinion that they were of greater dimensions and 
weight than the author has attached to them in his description as above. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 161 

guard, the piquet would hail him by calling out ^' Who 
comes there?'' Colonel Humpton would answer "A 
friend." The piquet would then cry out ''Advance 
friend and give the countersign." The Colonel would 
then advance and make as thofigh he would advance 
upon him, and pretend to coax or pass him. The 
piquet would then call out ''Stand friend and give the 
countersign." The Colonel would be at the end of his 
sport with each piquet guard at this point of time, he 
had to give the countersign or the next moment receive 
the contents of the piquet's musket. This was a peril- 
ous duty. Oftentimes a promise of reward would be 
made to a piquet guard for permission to pass. In- 
stances, however, were very rare, that of soldiers suffer- 
ing officers or others to advance and bribe them from 
duty. There have been instances, however, of piquets 
having suffered themselves to be tampered with. Some- 
times soldiers not knowing their duty thoroughly, when 
asked by an officer (knowing him to be such) and think- 
ing that they were bound to obey his orders, finally con- 
sented to give up their muskets when asked by officers 
to let them look at their pieces to see if they were in 
good condition, &c. Should the piquet do this, the 
officer would immediately call out to another piquet 
guard, and have the delinquent taken under guard, and 
would afterwards have him punished for his dereliction 
in duty. A camp or piquet guard (piquet especially) 
receives the countersign and his duty is to know no man, 
nor suffer himself to be tampered with by privates, of- 
ficers or others, no not even by the General of Division, 
His duty is made known to him, and the nearer he ad- 
heres to the line of his duty, the more does he evince 
his possessing the lofty ingredients and character of a 
true soldier, and the more will he endear himself to his 
brother soldiers and superior officers. 

As I made a somewhat lengthy stay at West Point 

after visiting it this time, I will endeavor to describe to 

ray readers some of our soldier doings. Each morning 

we had to play and beat the Reveille at the peep of day, 

14* 



162 LIFE OP 

and then the Troop for roll call. After roll call, a num- 
ber of men would be called out of each company as camp 
and piquet guards, and so many for fatigue duty. — 
These were called Fatigue Men. A drummer was also 
chosen and was called ''Orderly Drummer of the day. 
This drummer had his drum constantly lying on the 
parade ground during the day. Its place was generally 
where the colours were planted, or in other words, where 
the American standard was erected on a pole similar to 
what is now known and called a Liberty Pole. When the 
Sergeant of the fatigue men called out "Orderly Drum- 
mer," this drummer repaired to the Sergeant immediate- 
ly, who ordered him as follows: "Orderly Drummer beat 
up the fatigue's march." We having had a name for 
every thing, or rather tunes significant of duties of all 
kinds. To beat the "Point of War" "ow^ and out,^^ or 
through from beginning to its end, which embraces all 
tunes significant of Camp Z)ii/?>5, Advances, Retreats, 
Parleys, Salutes, Reveilles, Tattoos, &c. &c., 
would consume nearly or altogether half a day, and to 
beat the Reveille properly, " the Three Camps," which 
constituted the 1st part, "the Scotch, Hessian and 
Drags Single and Double," which constituted the 2d or 
middle part, and "the Three Camps," which constitu- 
ted the 3d or last part, would consume from the peep of 
day until after sun rise. There are many good Drum- 
mers and Fifers now-a-days that would not know what 
the "Point of War" is or should mean. Nor do they 
know what should be played or beat for a Reveille pro- 
perly. Some at Baltimore in 1813 and 1814, beat 
^^ Sally wont you Jh How 7?ie," and others other tunes 
quite as inappropriate. 

At West Point (as at all other military posts) the 
musicians knew at once when a particular roll or march 
was named, what tune to play, andthe soldiers allknew 
at all times what duty was to be performed upon the 
hearing the musicians "beat up." When the orderly 
Drummer would beat up the Fatigues March, all soldiers 
chosen for the day would repair to their post, form into 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 163 

lines and were marched off immediately, and set to work. 
There was always a great difference manifested in the 
manner of attending the calls, "Fatigues March" and 
" Roast Beef." The soldiers at the Fatigue's call gen- 
erally turned out slowly and down-hearted to muster up- 
on fatigue parade. VVhen an officer would ^' sing oui^^ 
orderly Drummer beat up "the Roast Beef," and the 
musician fairly commence it, the soldiers would be seen 
skipping, jumping and running from their tents, and re- 
pair to where the rations w^ere to be issued out. That 
there would be a difference manifested, will not be won- 
dered at when it is stated, that the fatigue men had to 
muster for the purpose of going to labor, chop, dig, 
carry timber, build, &c. &c., whilst the others would 
turn out voluntarily to learn what they were to draw for 
breakfast, dinner, &c. 

To each regiment there was a Quarter Master attach- 
ed, who drew the rations for the regiment, and to each 
regiment belonged a Quarter Master's Sergeant, that 
drew the lations for and dealt them out to the com- 
panies, or delivered them in charge to the Orderly Ser- 
geants of companies. 

The Quarter Master's Sergeant at a proper hour would 
take — Sergeant's and as many men as might be neces- 
sary, and repaired to the store-house and slaughter- 
house, which were built at the edge of the North River 
and extending some distance into the river. These 
buildings were very large. These men always took 
poles with them that were kept for the purpose, — that 
of carrying meat upon to the camp. They took also 
camp kettles with them for to carry Vinegar, Whiskey, 
&c. in to the camp. These men on their return, were 
marched in front of their respective companies. The 
Roast Beef would then " be beat up^^^ and the men un- 
derstanding the music (which is a signal for drawing 
provision) would hasten as before mentioned, and stand 
ready to receive their quota. The Orderly Sergeant of 
each company divided the meat into as many messes as 
were in each company (six men consituting a mess,) and 
then a soldier was made to turn his back to the piles. The 



164 LIFE OF 

Sergeant would then put his hand upon or point to each 
pile separately and ask " Who shall have this." The sol- 
dier with his back to the mess piles, then named the num- 
ber of the mess or the soldier that v/as always considered 
as the head of the mess, and in this way they proceeded un- 
til all was dealt out. Every man in each mess drew (when 
it was to be had) a gill of Whiskey each day, and often 
Salt and Vinegar when these were to be had. Some- 
times when Flour was scarce, it would be drawn every 
day. Sometimes we would draw three day's rations on 
one day, and sometimes none at all for two days togeth- 
er. Sometimes we drew Baker's Bread, and always 
when it was to be had. Sometimes we drew Sea Bis- 
cuit. I have been down at our slaughter-house at times 
for the purpose of assisting in carrying the provisions 
to camp, and have seen a great many cattle drove into 
it at a time. I recollect that, once we had to wait until 
the butchers would kill. They drove upwards of a hun- 
dred sheep into the slaughter-house, and as soon as the 
doors were closed, some of the butchers went to work 
and knocked the sheep down in every direction with 
axes, whilst others followed and stuck or bled them, 
others followed these, skinned them, hung them up and 
dressed them. A very short time elapsed from the time 
they commenced butchering them until our meat was, 
ready for us. I recollect having been there at another 
time when they were killing bullocks. They drove a 
very large and unruly bullock into the slaughter-house. 
This fellow they could not knock down. They had 
given him a great number of very hard blows upon his 
forehead, but could not fell him to the ground. He at 
length broke away from them, and left the building by 
jumping through a window. The butcher's pursued 
him, caught him, and brought him back secured by 
means of a strong rope. One of the soldiers belonging 
to our party happened to say (unguardedly) that had he 
had the knocking of him down, he would have had himi 
down in a much shorter time than they had consumed 
The butchers dropped the bullock and all, and took af-l 

I 



iif 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 166 

ter him, butcher-knives in hand. When they made the 
dash at him first, he ran, and when followed by them he 
had the hardest kind of work to save himself by running. 
Had they caught him, they in their anger, would un- 
doubtedly have plunged their knives as deep into him 
as they were prepared to do into the bullock. I have 
known great numbers of very fine and fat cattle slaugh- 
tered there, but if I have, I have seen many very poor 
and indifferent ones killed there also. As poor no doubt 
as Pharoah's seven lean fleshed and ill-favored /ane that 
devoured the seven well-favored and fat kine. But with 
these we had to be content in the absence of better. 

Often the "Orderly Drummer" would be ordered to 
beat up "the Adjutant's call." The Adjutant, when 
called thus, would answer to the call by his presence, 
and would then receive his orders from a superior officer. 
Sometimes the orderlies would be ordered to beat up 
the "Drummer's or (Musician's) call," at the hearing 
of which we (Fifer's and Drummer's) would have to 
^'drop ally^^ and answer by our presence. Our duties 
upon such calls were various. Sometimes we would be 
required to play and beat the Long Roll, Roast Beef, 
the Troop or the General, and sometimes "the Rogues 
March," and sometimes "the VV 's iviarch. i re- 
collect that one day "the Orderly of the Day" beat up 
the Drummer's call, and we immediately mustered at 
our post. In a few minutes after we had reported our- 
selves by our presence, a Corporal came along with a 
file of men, and we fell in by placing ourselves at the 
head or in front of them. He then marched us to the 
parade ground. After remaining there a few minutes, 
a woman of ill-fame was brought in front of us. In a 
few minutes afterwards we received orders to march. 
As we started off we commenced playing and beating up 
the " W — —'s March" after her until we arrived at the 
bank of the river. A halt being called, she was then 
conducted by the Corporal into the river until they both 
stood in water nearly or altogether three feet in depth. 
Quite a scuffle ensued, when the Corporal attempted to 



166 



LIFE OF 



^^duck^^ her by plunging her head under water. The 
Corporal after a number of trials, at last succeeded in 
executing this part of the sentence passed upon her. 
He plunged her ^^head and aW^ three times under water 
and then let her go. When she started off after com- 
ing out of the water, we gave her three cheers and three 
long rolls on the drum, and then marched back without 
our fair Delilah, follower of Bapta goddess of Shame. 

Such frolics as these were often made a part of our 
duties, and which (being young as some of us were) w^e 
enjoyed very w^ell. It was not only viewed as a neces- 
sary conduct of severity to this class of unfortunate 
w^omen, but it became necessary, at least that they 
should be removed from the camp. That course of 
treatment, it must be admitted, was harsh even to these 
abandoned daughters of frailty. When reason and cool 
reflection holds the reins of government, and the mind 
is held in proper subjection, almost all well disposed 
persons, both men and women, will feel a regret that 
such a conduct became necessary — that such a punish- 
ment had to be meted out to those unfortunate females, 
many of w^hom were suckled at the breasts of mother's 
of the sternest virtue, and reared midst all that was vir- 
tuoiis, amiable, pious, just and good, and that could 
adorn the young mind or fit it to expand in mature age. 
Unfortunate females, many of whom were once able to 
lay an equal claim with the best to being daughters of 
purity, innocence and Eden. 

1. How unhappy the thought — Virtue delhron'dj 
A daughter destroyed, a daughter disown'd, 
An outcast from all that's virtuous and fair, 

A blotch on Modesty's escutcheon — fair daughter of Despair. 

2. Heaven, angels and earlh, yes, God is defied. 
Woman, virtue and goodness, all, all is decried 

By the harlot— forsaken, who revels in her earthly hells. 
Iniquity her theme, and that, all grace expels. 

3. The still voice of God, if heard, 'tis as jest. 
The spirit's voice stifled, it's powers suppress'd ; 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 167 

The world its pride and soul-damning gins, 

Are cast 'pon the fair ruin, that's loaded with sins. 

4. She's abhorr'd, she knows it, this, itself is a hell 
That torments her stain'd bosom — the monitor's cell ; 
Moments there are, when such have remorse. 

Yes, deep, but want resolution to alter their course. 

5. Fly, daughter fly, there's balm in gilead, 

A root out of ground — oflfspring of Jesse's seed. 
An ofispring of mercy, that forgiveness can speak. 
Fly then the Brothel, on knees do him seek. 

6. The world can forgive, ab ! this, au iron rod. 

One, that calls up more fears, than the terrible God ; 

Fly, daughter fly, lay Shame's robes aside. 

Go dwell in Industry's mansions, and with Virtue abide. 

7. You say the world, the world, still will condemn, 

" What God hath cleans'd" is " neither common or unclean ;" 
If God has forgiven, the world is bound to obey. 
Bring works meet for repentance, oh' blest happy day. 

8. The world, if it frowns on thee, it but frowns on the Lord, 
Whose vials of wrath on the unforgiving will be pour'd ; 
Fly, daughter fly, to the bosom of a redeeming God, 
There seek forgiveness — there leave th}-- heavy load. 

9. Daughters ! sweet Sylphs, now in hey day of youth, 
Hearken to Friendship, O listen to Truth, 

O'er you watcheth angels, then fear to offend. 
Fly daughters fly, and seek Grace to defend. 

10. Ye pure daughters of virtue, fly, fly the foul snares. 
Of the subtle deceiver, the syren destroyer, who cares 
Not for your honor^ not for your virtue, not for your soul, 
Fly daughter fly, an enemy all hellish, is in Flattery's bowL 

11. Fly daughters fly, whilst youth's warm flowing blood. 
Is bearing you onward to honorable womanhood ; 

Be virtuous, be good, in these have much delight. 
Make not life a waste, cast not o'er it so fearful a blight. 

12. A Harlot, O daughter, maiden daughter be wise. 
Be virtuous, the name and life, both despise, 



168 * LIFE OF 

Stop ! think ! ask what? is this to be my curs'd lot. 
Am I who am now pure, to be creation's foul blot. 

13. God save me, save me, from so awful an end, 
Redeemer thy salvation be pleased to extend, 
And ray soul's gratitude warm, to thee shall be given. 
Through eternity's unending blest years, in praises in HEAVEN. 

J. S. Hanna. 

" It is enough to know that though this culprit ha 
long since relapsed into a silence not likely again to b 
broken, he has living, acting, speaking representative 
on the earth, who do not scorn on occasion to use th 
same plea. Among the beings whom God has made i 
his own image, and whom he has gifted with power 
that ally him with angels, there are some, nay many 
whose sport and pastime it is to destroy female innocence 
and to scatter desolation and death through the com 
munity. A man of this class, as he prowls around th 
domestic enclosure, finds a young gi^l, artless, innocenli 
and unsuspecting — perhaps without a protector, or 
permanent home. By slow degrees, he winds himse 
into the confidence of his victim — and then, having se 
cured her affections, finds it comparatively an easy tas 
to accomplish her destruction. She is now in his powet 
dependant on his will, and without any refuge from hi 
caprice or tyranny. At his command, every woman! 
feeling must be crushed or outraged, lest the tremblim 
coward should be detected or interrupted in his villain; '^^ 
At length, when soul and body are alike destroyed, h 
forsakes the wretched being to whom he is literally a 
the world, and goes forth with a smooth brow and smi 
ing lip, into the circles of fashion, to be flattered anij["J 
caressed, while he seeks a newer, more attractive vicjj ^ 
tim. And what becomes of his poor partner in guiltjr 
Is she, too, welcomed back to the halls of gaity and re 
finement, after her fearful dereliction from virtue ? A\ 
no — the youthful votary* of fashion who is leaning oi 

'~'~~'~~" ' bo 

* Think of this ye that are so often found hanging to the arms of knowii ofe 

yes, well known libertines. Supposing that you are amiable and truly vi; (ntj 

tuous in every respect, does not your own fair fame suffer in proportion 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEVVEES. 



169 



the arm of her seducer, and drinking in his words of 
blandishment, would shrink from her touch as from pol- 
lution itself, and her presence in that scene would pro- 
duce a sensation of horror and disgust. 

She is a woman, and a fallen one — and in the present 
state of society has no resource but to sink lower in de- 
gradation and sin, until the last gleam of hope has faded 
[away, and the blackness of darkness settles around 
her for ever. In these circumstances, smarting under a 
sense of wrong for which there is no legal redress, desti- 
tute of the means of procuring an honest livelihood — 
shut out from association with the virtuous, and con- 
demned to feel the gnawings of the worm that never 
dies — what wonder if thus in league with despair, mad- 
ness should take possession of her brain, and revenge 
thrill every fibre of her heart? Such an one may be- 
come the tempter of man, for she regards the whole race 
as banded together for her destruction, and the lex tali- 
onis is to her bewildered sense perfectly just and right. 
That there are thousands of such tempters in our midst, 
the mere wreck of what was once a happy, innocent, 
and beloved being, until the spoiler came, I do not doubt 
or deny. They are what man has made them, and he 
surely should be the last to complain of his own handi- 
work." 

Early in the evening we had to beat up " The Re- 
treat." We played and beat the Retreat down and up 
Lhe parade ground as far as our regiment extended, for 
i^roll call." We had many tunes that we played and 
oeat for the Retreat. " Little Cupid^^ w^as often played 
and beat for a Retreat. At bed -time we had to beat the 

Tattoo,'''* For Tattoo, \nq. had many tunes also. For 



labils of intimacy with such? Should uot the thought strllvc you forcibly 
md very — how many pure daughters of innocence and loveliness has fallen 
—is now the abandoned of the earth at the hands of this obsequious wretch, 
rivho I ought to detest in my heart's inmost centre, and fly from and shun as 
I would a wild beast of the forest or a pestilence. No man of virtuous habits 
s so safe as he who is always found in the company of virtuous females ; so- 
i[io female is so safe as she who is found accompanied by a virtuous and hen* 
irable man. 

15 



170 LIFE OF 

roll call in the morning we had many tunes that "wv 
played and beat as the "Troop." 

There was a challenge given to box upon the par 
of one bully, and accepted upon the part of another 
The combatants were James Reed, of the 1st brigade 
and Andrew^ Travis of the 2d brigade. They fough 
by permission of their officers. They met upon a fla 
piece of ground below the forts. They chose thei 
seconds and judges, who established certain rules o 
regulations, by which they were to be governed in th> 
fight; among them, this one, that they were not to strike 
each other in the face. A large ring was formed by th^ 
large body of soldiers which had assembled to witness 
the fight. The combatants then entered the ring ano 
commenced the light. They began about 10 o'clock 
A. M., and fought hard, giving each other most tremen 
dous hard knocks. During the fight, they sat down td 
rest four or five times, and each time they partook of ret 
freshments. After resting in this way, they would "^'; 
at it agdin.^^ They appeared to be very equally match 
ed, both stout, both strong and vigorous, and full 0( 
ambitious metal. I suppose they knocked each othei 
down full twenty times. This fight lasted until near I' 
o'clock, P. M. Up to that hour it could not be told 
which was the best or most likely to bear away the palm 
of victory. Travis at length was forced to yield to Reed 
who, although not much of a better man, proved him 
self to be the best man of the two upon that occasion 

After the fight ended, those that were of our brigade 
with Reed returned to camp wearing the laurels of vici 
tory. To say the least of these kind of fights, they ar 
of no benefit to society, and ought to be discountenanced 
and laws rigidly enforced upon all parties offending o 
likely to ofiend, ere such unhappy, unprofitable, brutal 
and barbarous meetings should take place. 

Sometime after this, there was a misunderstanding 
took place b-etween Captain Steake and a Captain Smith 
There was a challenge to fight a duel sent and accept 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 171 

beauty, from his being a remarkably handsome man. — 
On the morning of the day upon which they fought, we 
were waiting for the morning gun to fire. The moment 
we could perceive the flash at all times, we commenced 
to beat the Reveille. As soon as the morning gun was 
fired, we commenced beating the Reveille. Whilst we 
were thus engaged our Drum-Major said to us, " Huzza, 
boys, rattle it off," and we can see Captain Steake and 
•Captain Smith fight a duel this morning. The parties 
were just at that moment going out to the field. As soon 
as we had done playing and beating the Reveille, we 
started and ran speedily, but we were out of time, for 
just as v>^e were getting within sight of where they were, 
we heard the report of Captain Steake's pistol. His 
ball had struck his antagonist in his right shoulder, caus- 
ing his right arm and hand to fall down helpless or pow- 
erless at his side, and of course his pistol fell also. — 
Steake's ball had taken effect so quick, that Smith's pis- 
tol remained undischarged. This was enough for Cap- 
tain Smith at this time. Captain Steake was a good shot. 
I have known him to fight several duels, and never 
knew him miss his fire once, his balls always took ef- 
fect. It was said that this or the one he fought after- 
wards, was the seventh duel he had fought. I don't re- 
collect of any of his shots ever proving fatal. Captain 
Steake was my Captain when I was finally discharged. 
He was a brave man. Of this, there was not a single 
doubt, although he committed this folly, which made 
him no braver. *' Duelling by some is called brave and 
honorable. It is sacrificing at a false shrine. It is no 
evidence of bravery, nor yet of honor in any man. Yet 
brave and honorable men, men who have unhesitating- 
ly condemned the practice, have fought and fell. It is 
brave (it is said,) but -it is more brave to possess moral 
courage enough to brave popular opinion than it is to 
fight, and the full current of opinion willsoonor or later 
be the deserved plaudit for him that intrenches himself 
behind his own rights, and acts upon the defensive. It 
is true, a man ihay have done his friend a wrong. Let 



172 * LIFE OF \ 

him not persist in that wrong, two wrongs never made- 
a right. Let him do that which ought to be any man^s 
glory. If he has done his friend a wrong, let him in 
the full flow of a manly soul acknowledge it. No man 
ever went to death a brave man as a duellist, who pos- 
sessed so little a nature as not to acknowledge (if wrong 
he did) that he did an injustice. Pteason is dethroned | 
in such. Reason and Justice have been brilliantly deco- 
rated suasive handmaidens of Bravery in all ages. I 
have seen as brave men as ever fought in defence of i 
home, country or friends, that detested the unrighteous, , 
cowardly and murderous practice of duelling in their in- ■ 
most souls, and I cannot express myself more appro- • 
priately relative to duelling, than has the poet relative to) 
him that commits suicide, for he that rushes unnecessari- ■: 
ly to death in a duel, is as much a suicidist in one sense, ,i 
as he that rushes by his own hand uncalled into the pre- ■] 
sence of an angry God." — Hannahs Glory of Columbia. 

** When all the blandishments of life are gone 

The coward sneaks to death, and the brave lives on.*'" 

I was detached to a place once during the Revolution, , 
which was called "-The Hundred Acres." It was per- 
haps that section of Delaware county now called " 01d( 
Hundred." Whilst I laid at this place, there was ai 
very unfortunate and solemn affair transpired there.- 
There were two officers, a Second Colonel and a Major,,' 
that were candidates for promotion to the post of First 
Colonel. The Major succeeded to the office of First 
Colonel, and a high dispute arose between them, and a 
challenge to fight a duel was given and accepted. They 
met upon the field of death, and tossed up to determine 
which should have the first fire. The Major (elected 
Colonel) won the great and deoided advantage, and 
they took their stations. The distance that they were 
apart was but ten steps. The regulation was that each 
one when it should be his turn to fire, was to stand with 
his back to the other, and at the word^re, was to wheell 
and fire. The Colonel received the wor^J, wheeled and! 



CAPTA.IN SAMUEL DEWEES. 173. 

fired, and his antagonist fell mortally wounded. The 
Colonel then stepped up to him and asked him if he 
would be reconciled to him, expressing at the same time, 
his regret that the affair had gone on until it had termina- 
ted so fatally. The Second Colonel determined (al- 
though in a dying state) to have his shot. The First 
Colonel then stepped off ten paces to his post, and turn- 
ing himself around, bared his breast by pulling his shirt- 
bosom apart with both hands, and said " in the name of 
God, fire." The Second Colonel was then bolstered 
up by his second and other officers, raised his pistol as 
far as he was able and fired, but not having strength to 
hold it high enough, the bullet struck the ground before 
it reached to where the First Colonel stood. The Second 
Colonel died immediately after he had discharged his 
pistol. This duel caused a great deal of talk, both 
among the soldiers and among the citizens. Some ap- 
plauded the deceased officer for his " spu7ik,^^ and others 
the living one for his honor, which he had backed by so 
brave a contempt of death, prepared as he seemed to be, 
to await in a cool and deliberate manner the hand of 
death truly raised against him. 

Seconds and others professing to be friends of parties 
arrayed thus angrily against each other, are highly cen- 
surable, and ought to be held culpable. For most as- 
suredly, in nine cases out of ten, they might bring about 
a reconciliation, and avert such awful consequences as 
are attendant upon duelling. 

There came to camp one day an old man and old wo- 
man with their family consisting of 24 children. The 
old people must have been nearly SO years old. The 
eldest child I think was a daughter, and walked next 
to the two old people, and each of the rest according to 
his or her age from the eldest to the youngest. After 
they entered the encampment, they walked down and 
up the parade ground before the soldiers and in the or- 
der I have described ; the soldiers ran, out of curiosity 
to see them, as they had come for the purpose of get- 
ting some help, most of the officers and some of the 
15* 



174 ' LIFE OF 

soldiers (that had money and they were few) gave them 
something. It was said, that General Washington gave 
a considerable sum of money to them. I do not recol- 
lect w^hether they presented any other claim than their 
poverty and novelty of appearance. I had never seen 
such a family previous, but I have since. I had a broth- 
er-in-law of the name of John Cochell, who was mar- 
ried to my first wife's sister and who lived in Berks' 
county. Pa., about 5 miles below Reading whose fami- 
ly consisted (at one time when my wife and myself were 
there on a visit) of 24 or 25 children, his wife however 
had five or six times twins at a birth. 

When we lay 4 or 5 miles from (I think it must have 
been the) Passaic Falls, in Jersey (although it is pos- 
sible that it was near to Trenton Falls in York state) 
the soldiers went frequently to see the falls, and then 
a great curiosity which was not far from the falls. — 
There was a poor family that had in it a son, who wasi 
said to be upwards of thirty years old, I went with someij 
soldiers to see him, and beheld the most wonderful sight 
that I ever did behold in all my life, his body was 
^^chunkey^^ and about the size of a healthy boy of ten or 
twelve years old and he laid in a kind of cradle, but his 
head (although shaped like to a human head,) was like 
a flour barrel in size, and it was common for one soldierr 
to describe to others by comparing it to a flour barrel. . 
It had to be lified about (the body could not support it)) 
whenever and wherever it had to be moved to. His 
senses appeared to be good, and it was usual for us to 
say ''/le can talk like a lawyer.''^ He would talk to ev- 
ery person that visited him. All the soldiers that visi- 
ted him and that had any money, would always give 
him something. It was said that General Washington 
when he went to see him gave his father the sum of four 
or five hundred dollars as a present to aid in his support, 
Although I have here attempted adescription of hisperson 
and appearance, itbeggered every description I can give, 
as no person can conceive truly his appearance but those 
that seen him. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 175 

The soldiers would sometimes go to swim in the riv- 
er on which the falls was situated. They were always 
cautioned to not go nearer to the falls than a certain dis- 
tance then named, it being very dangerous to enter the 
river at any point nearer than that, as the "^i^c/c" was 
so great as to draw whatever might chance to fall there- 
in over the falls. It was said by old people in the set- 
tlement around the falls, that an Indian had been drawn 
(with his canoe) by the suck, and had been precipitated 
over the falls ; his body (or parts) of it had been 
discovered afterwards. The water dashed wildly and 
swiftly over a precipice that seemed straight almost as the 
side of a wall, and when it fell, it fell broken indeed 
among high and projecting rocks to which nature had 
given every rag;ged and picturesquely wild shape imag- 
inable. The noise of this mighty dashing water could 
be heard for many miles in every direction around the 
falls. 

Near to where we lay at some other place during the 
revolution, we frequently went to see a couple of dwarfs. 
They were male and female ; the one was said to be 33 
years old and the other two or three years older or young- 
er, and which it was I cannot now recollect. They were 
both well on to 3 feet high, but their bodies were very 
slender, their arms and hands were very small, and their 
eyes were no larger than the eyes of a " raf,'^ but black 
as jet. The people called them "fairies." Their par- 
ents were not very well off. It was also said of Gener- 
al Washington that when he visited them he gave their 
parents something clever to aid in supporting them, and 
I suppose it was true, for I never knew or heard of his 
closing his hands, but always understood that he gave 
liberally on all necessary occasions. 



176 * LIFE OF 

CHAPTER X. 

A large dptacliment of soldiers were sent on from 
West Point to Crown Point in order to strengthen that 
post, and add to the strength of that portion of the north- 
ern army. I accompanied this body of troops in that 

expedition in the capacity of a regular Fifer in the 

regiment. Owing to our having to pass through a great 
portion of wilderness country, and by means of poor roads 
often very deep and miry and leading through almost 
impassable swamps ; we endured much hardship and 
often that of great want. From the great distance that 
Crown Point laid from the middle theatre of war, pro- 
visions whilst we laid there were often extremely scarce ; 
in fact sometimes we had to subsist for days without a 
mouthful of any thing to eat. This was not confined to 
one particular post, but it was general, as well near to 
the first great Independence ground Philadelphia, as at 
the far off out posts. In addition to the want of food, 
the army was suffering for want of clothing, and in ad- 
dition to these another great want was continually star- 
ing the Commander-in-Chief in Che face; Oh, horrible 
thought ! continually harrassing the greatest and best of 
of men — it was the want of ammunition with which the 
soldiers, although enduring every privation could not 
only have protected themselves with, but the young and 
war clouded Eagle-bird, Liberty of their country also. 

Mr. Marshall in his life of Washington, has fully and 
faithfully portrayed the suffering state of the army. P^ead 
his statements. 

General Washington's "urgent requisition for men 
to supply the place of those who were leaving the ser- 
vices, were not complied with, and the soldiers who re- 
mained, could scarcely be preserved from either perish- 
ing with cold and hunger, or dispersing and living on 
plunder." 

General Greene and Colonel Wadsworth, who had 
for the preceding year, been at the head of the quarter- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



171 



master and commissary departments, possessed distin- 
guished merit, and had employed assistants of unques- 
tionable ability and integrity. Yet, for a great part of 
the campaigns, the rations were frequently reduced, and 
the army was rarely supplied with provisions for more 
than a few days in advance. Soon after coming into 
winter quarters, the magazines were exhausted, and af- 
forded neither meat nor Hour to be delivered to the men^ 

''This state of things had been long foreseen, and all 
the means in the power of the Commander-in-Chief had 
been used to prevent it. Repeated representations of 
the actual famine wath which the army was threatened, 
had been made to Congress, and to the state govern- 
ments ; but no adequate relief was afforded ; and such 
was the condition of the finances, so embarrassing the 
state of affairs, that it was perhaps attainable only by 
measures which the government could not venture to 
adopt." 

"Those were the dark days truly, "that tried men's 
souls." How needful the possession of prophetic vision 
to meet the dark cloud of an almost utter despondency, 
that hung over the infant, Liberty, in its rudely and hast- 
ily constructed cradle of Republicanism. Loudly did 
this sad and deplorable state of things call for the aid of 
prophetic vision to have beheld beyond the widely ex- 
tended lowering, dark and impenetrable cloud of war, 
the young but high soaring, and loud screaming Eagle 
of Liberty coming from afar. 

To this awful state of affairs the fair daughters of Co- 
lumbia were not indifferent. The patriotic ladies, moth- 
ers and daughters of Philadelphia, and indeed every 
where else, made lofty sacrifices. They sacrificed every 
thing in their power for the good of their country. They 
furnished materials, made garments of all descriptions 
and clothed as far as in their power a perishing soldie- 
ry. Mothers cheerfully sacrificed in parting with, and 
sending away husbands and sons to their country's bat- 
tle-fields. Sisters were seen hastily w^eaving and sew- 
ing, and manufacturing clothes for young brothers th^t 



178 * LIFE OF 

Ihey might be able speedily to rush to the support o 
the American standard, and the God-chosen Washing, 
ton, father and protector of his country." 

HanncOs Glory of Columbia, 

Mr. Marshall states that after the battle of Princef 
ton, January — 77, the situation of General Washingtoi 
was again perilous in the extreme. "His small army wa 
exhausted with fatigue. His troops had been without 
sleep, all of them one night and some of them two. 
They were without blankets, many of them barefootec 
and otherwise thinly clad, and were eighteen miles fron 
the place of their destination." 

When the above state of things existed in the conn: 
try, what would my readers suppose w-e could be endurj 
ing at such remote posts as Crown Point, and Fort Tij 
conderoga. We could consider ourselves well off, wdied 
we were where we were blessed wdth rations sufficient) 
to make tolerably satisfying meals. We considered ourii 
selves well off in the midst of hardships, when we weri| 
where we could draw a gill of liquor per day occasion 
ally. When we drew^ fresh meat, w^e did not alway,| 
draw salt to preserve it or use with it. During the \Ym 
we drew more liquor and vinegar when in the vicinit1l| 
of cities or large towns, than when removed to any grea' 
distance from them. We indeed (I may state) drev 
more abundantly (ifit wereto be had at all) of every thinj! 
else. Sometimes we drew two days' rations at a time*; 
Sometimes when near to towns where baker's breacj 
could be obtained, it would be procured for us. At Wesi; 
Point we drew bread very often. Sometimes we drev; 
soap. I have known, however, that no soap would boj 
drawn for six months at a time. We have often procuri 
ed white clay, and used it as soap in washing our shirts j 
pantaloons &c. I recollect that when we laid at Car-j 
lisle barracks, we procured white clay and mixed it uji 
like mortar, and made it into large balls and after the}; 
would become dry we would rub them on our pantaloons - 
like to buff balls upon buckskin breeches. By their usf 
thus, we made them for a time almost as white as chalk , 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 179 

I This mode of washing or metamorphosing dirty wear- 
ing apparel into clean, might suit some particular char- 
acters not very particular now-a-days, but not the gen- 
erality of folks. This mode of washing or rather paint- 
ing of dirty clothes, if introduced now would be consid- 
ered by our ^^ tidy''^ housewives, and their rosy cheeked 
lassies of daughters rather a dry, and very odd kind of 
w^ash indeed. 

At all times when we drew biscuit, we were scarce 
of every thing else, and were then in the midst of hard 
times I do assure my readers. Sometimes we had one 
biscuit and a herring per day, and often neither the one 

• nor the other. Sometimes we had neither the one nor 

■ the other for two days at a time, and in one or two in- 

• stances nothing until the evening of the third day. — 
: This was previous to our drawling a biscuit and a her- 

I ring each day, the biscuit was made of sMpstuff, and they 

■ were so hard that a hammer or a substitute therefor 

• was requisite to break them. This, or throw them to 
soak in boiling water, upon these, a biscuit and a her- 
ring each day, the soldiers lived until their mouths broke 
out with scabs, and their throats became as sore and raw 
as a piece of uncooked meat. This was very annoying 
and oppressive, and was called the *' scurvy.'^ The sol- 
diers at length determined to kick against the receipt of 
herrings. We all drew our herrings and saved them for 
a day or two, and then collected them at one place on 
the parade ground and fastened them upon long poleSy 
and some of the soldiers carried them upon their should- 
ers around and up, and down the parade ground, whilst 
we (the musicians) played and beat "the rogue's march" 
after them. After we had endeavored to Jish drill our 
officers enough, we left our fish lying upon the parade 
ground to undergo an official inspection, and repaired 
quietly and orderly to our quarters. 

The officers made a great ado about the matter, but 
the soldiers were determined not to yield any thing. This 
course of independent burlesquing, at the expense of the 
Jimiy tribe of unwelcome guests, brought us a load or 



I'SO * LIFE OF 

two of dried clams in a very few days thereafter. Dra^x 
near ye lovers of your country — of old veteran patriotic 
soldiers of the revolution, and hear how these were dealt 
out to the soldiery. These had been taken out of the 
shells and then put upon strings and dried as farmer'sij 
"wives dry their apples in the chimney corners and in the' 
:sun. Every man drew so many inches of these ; inches 
of dried clams ! To the young reader and perhaps to; 
many of the older ones, these seem funny rations for sol-| 
diers to be sustained on, and to enable a patriot armyf j 
to do its duty in beaming the great "Bull" of Europe.' i 
Funny! yes! so many inches of string dried clam^ tcjji 
each soldier ; perhaps each soldier drew 4 or 5 inches! i 
of these. They were very dry and would rattle oneil 
against another like to pebble stones, and were seem^: i 
ingly as hard; when boiled however, they would swell! 
out and become soft, and as large nearly as when they'.] 
liad been first strung. Our process was to boil themj] ; 
and then break up some ship-biscuit and throw^ therai| t 
into our camp kettles and woukl make a kind of soupj 
out of them, and believed ourselves to have been blesss 
ed with pretty fair living considering the times and sit-| 
nation of the army. Go ask those male and female gos-| 
•sipping dandies who would fall back apparently appall-- 
ed at the "intruding" presence of an old soldier, whatJ 
gained for them the liberties they enjoy, and ask themj i 
•where they keep their thankfulness and gratitude, and 
for whom and for whose use th-ey nurse both, and fur- 
ther, if they understand at all what a soldier's life in rev- 
olutionary times was. Why ! the life of a soldier ndw-j 
a-days is a life of ease and comfort compared with what 
it was in the dark days of a sore trial. Let them ask! it 
the compiler of this present work, if ever he beheld on c 
the encamping grounds of Erie, on lake Erie where hun- li 
dreds and hundreds of tents had been pitched (in 1812] |[ 
and 1813) upon large brushheaps. The hemlock and' o 
other timbers 3, 4 and 5 feet across the stump, were cut . 
down in order to get the branches that brushheaps might j] 
he made of them to keep the soldiers cut of the water »] 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. I8l 

more than mid-leg deep. Let the ungrateful go to oth- 
er military posts and hear the history of a soldier's hard- 
ships, privations and sufferings. 

" The reflection is a grateful one; who can con- 
template Ihe privations, exposures, hardships and dan- 
gers of (I may state) all ranks and conditions in the army' 
of the revolution, as, also of all those, who in the midst 
of all kinds of disasters nobly backed the sacred cause of 
Liberty and Independence w^ithout possessing feelings of 
gratitude. Men, young and old were to be seen rushing 
impetuously forward to join the American standard, with 
old rusty firelocks, without bayonets, many of them rough 
stocked by their own ingenious hands. Ready ! yes ready- 
to meet the far famed invincibles of England, two to one 
in the forests' impenetrable wilds, or on the open plain. 
Manyofthem, poor fellows, long forgotten and their deeds 
yet unsung, barefooted, shirtless and otherwise thinly clad 
and illy provided for in every respect. Good God, are 
the memories of these glorious martyred spirits of my 
Columbia's exalted glory, to be lost in oblivion's dark- 
ning pall? — no ! no ! Forbid it thou Almighty Lord of 
battles. Awake, oh ! God, my Columbia's sons and 
daughters, to a deep and weighty sense of the great and 
unbounded gratitude you owe to the first founders of 
our 'glorious Republic, for well may it be said, they 
walked forth in all the majesty of the great and terrible 
God upon the earth, and in ^AczV Almighty movings were 
visibly seen the stately steppings of the Supreme, but 
despised invisible Majesty, Emmanuel, generalissimo of 
the countless millions of Heaven and of Earth. 

Sometimes I am forced involuntarily to ask, why is 
it, that revolutionary achievements of an eternal brillian- 
cy are suffered to pass so unheeded down the stream of 
time into the future.? Why are the noble sons of revo- 
lutionary thunder, and their mighty and chivalrous deeds 
of glory so little remembered, so little named, a theme 
— a theme great, glorious and inexhaustible, why such a 
change — a change so shameful ? These hallow^ed and 
glorious days and their glorious events, seem to sit up- 
16 



182 * LIFE 0-F 

on the minds and hearts of very many of the sons a.id 
daughters of ray country of the present day, like the im- 
perfect shades or shadows of an almost forgotten dream. 
How many such noble sons as the following, composed 
the armies of the colonies, when bearing up manfully and 
courageously against a well fed and warmly clothed hire- 
ling army of the crown of Great Britain." 

Ha7ina^s Glory of Columbia. 

" One day in the middle of winter, General Greene, 
when passing a sentinel who was bare footed, said "I 
fear my good fellow you suffer much from the cold." — 
"Very much" was the reply, "but I do not complain.! 
I know I should fare better had our General the means: 
of getting supplies. They say however, that in a few 
days we will have a fight, and then I shall take care to 
secure a pair of shoes." 

" The Pay of the Members of the Old Continental Con- 
gress. — Jared Sparks in a late lecture at the University 
on this subject, stated the following was the pay given 
to the members who formed the Continental Congressji 
by the several States or Colonies whence they were elect-' 
ed: 

1. New Hampshire — Each member had all his own 
personal expenses paid, and those for his servant, and 
two horses, and half a guinea besides. 

2. Massachusetts — the same as New Hampshire in re- 
gard to the expenses and $2 a day. 

3. Connecticut — The same in regard to expenses and 
$3 a day. 

4. Rhode Island — 40 shillings a day, and no expen- 
ses paid. 

5. N. York— $4 a day. 

6. Pennsylvania — 20 shillings a day, and all expenses 
paid. 

7. Maryland — 40 shillings a day, and no expenses paid. 

8. Virginia — A Half Johannes a day. 

9. North Carolina — ^£500 currency a year. 

10. South Carolina — ^£300 for their services during 
the first Congress. 

11. Georgia — XlOO during the first Session." 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 183 

No where during the revolution was defiance more 
faithfully bidden to hardships, dangers and fatigue than 
was evinced by General Marion and his men. It is true 
they had not the extreme cold of a northern region to 
contend with, as had a northern soldiery. Mr. Hale in 
his history of the United States, states, that, ''there were 
jet some citizens," of South Carolina at the time Corn- 
wallis supposed that state to be subdued, "who, in all 
fortunes, adhered with firmness to the cause of Indepen- 
dence. Of these, in one part of the state, General Sumpt- 
er was the leader, in another General Marion. The 
cavalry of the latter were so destitute of the weapons of 
war, that they were obliged to cut their swords from the 
saws of the saw-mills. He was so successful in conceal- 
ing himself in w^oods and marshes, that the enemy w^ere 
never able to attack or discover him. From these dark 
retreats he often sallied forth, and fell unexpectedly upon 
parties of the enemy, when marching through the coun- 
try, or posted in garrisons to overawe the inhabitants. 

In one of these sallies, he released one hundred and 
fifty continentals captured at Camden. His repeated 
and successful excursions preserved alive the spirit of 
resistance, and his high fame as a partizan was never 
tarnished by any violation of the laws of war or human- 
ity." 

Song of Marion'' s Men. 

"Our band is few, but true and tried, 
Our leader, frank and bold ; 
The British soldier trembles 
When Marion's name is told. 

Our fortress is the good green wood. 
Our tent the Cypress tree : 
We know the forest round us. 
As seamen know the sea. 

We know ils walls of thorny vines, 
Its glades of reedy grass. 
Its sage and silent islands 
Within the dark morass. 



184 • LIFE OF 

Wo to the English soldiery 
That little dread us near ! 
On them shall light, at midnightj^ 
A strange and sudden fear. 

When waking to their tents on fire. 
They grasp their arms in vain; 
And they who stand to face us 
Are beat to earth again. 

And they who fly in terror, deem 
A mighty host behind, 
And hear the tramp of thousands 
Upou the hollow wind. 

Then sweet the hour that brings release 
From danger and from toil : 
We talk the battle over. 
And share the battle's spoil. 

The woodland rings with laugh and shouts 
As if a hunt were up ; 
And woodland flowers are gathered 
To crown the soldiers cup. 

With merry songs we mock the wind 
That in the pine-top grieves. 
And slumber long and sweetly 
On beds of oaken leaves. 

Well knows the fair and friendly moon^ 

The band that Marion leads ; 

The glitter of their rifles. 

The scampering of their steeds. 

'Tis life our fiery barbs to guide 
Across the moonlit plains; 
'Tis life to feel the night wind 
That lifts their tossing manes. 

A moment in the British camp> 
A moment, and away 
Back to the pathless forest. 
Before the peep of day. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 185 

Grave men there are by broad Sanlee, 
Grave men with hoary hairs; 
Their hearts are all with Marion, 
For Marion are their prayers. 

And lovely ladies greet our band, 
With kindliest welcoming; 
With smiles like those of summers 
And tears like those of spring. 

For them we wear these trusty arms, 
And lay them down no more 
Till we have driven the Briton, 
Forever, from ourjhore." 

Sometimes whilst we laid at West Point, fort Ticon- 
deroga, and at other military posts we drew what was 
called '.' state's stores." I dont know why they were call- 
ed by this name unless it was, that these goods were 
donations from store keepers made to their respective 
State Governments, and then from the State Govern- 
ments to the United State's Government, for the use of 
the army in general. From these state's stores we drew 
coffee, tea, sugar, chocolate, soap, tobacco,* pep- 
per and other articles that were very serviceable to us. 
It was considered a great thing among us to draw ra- 
tions thus. This good fortune came but seldom, perhaps 
once in six months we fared thus well. A shorter period, 
however, might have elapsed at times between, but of- 
tener a longer elapsed than a shorter one. 

Nothing of consequence that I recollect of, transpired 
whilst we laid at Crown Point and Ticonderoga. Some- 
thing like skirmishing would occur occasionally. It was 
in consequence of some diversion or feint having been 
made by one of the British commanders that we had 
been detached there. The necessity of this force at that 
point having been done away with and we needed in a 



Nothing could be more acceptable to us than tobacco. It was hard doing 
without it or its substitute. I have known soldiers to chew leaves of va- 
rious kinds, and also roots, some would use Calnmus as a substitute for to- 
bacco. 

16* 



186 LIFE OF 

more enlarged sphere, we were ordered back again to 
West Point. I do not recollect our route from West 
Point to Crown Point, neither can I recollect by what 
route we returned. I remember, however, of having 
been at Fort Schuyler a short time, but whether it was 
at this time or not 1 cannot now state. 



CHAPTER XL 

After our arrival at West Point (which was perhaps 
sometime in June, 1780.) Several expeditions were 
made and for various purposes. I recollect that when 
we encamped out for sometime when on one expedition, 
General Washington led the army in person. Here, aid- 
ed by my recollections of that great and good man, I 
will attempt to sketch in a brief manner his character, as 
regards one amiable, merciful and righteous trait therein 
— as regards his strong and enlarged trust in the mighty 
and overruling Providence of the Most High. 

Washington it was, that trusted in the strong arm of 
the Almighty God of battles. He it was who was often 
known to be outside of the camp and upon his knees 
in fervent prayer to the Most High for direction and aid, . 
pleading for his blessing to descend upon the glorious I 
cause of Libert}^, and upon the armies of his country, 
and that, success might crown the American arms. — 
Washington — did he not live to behold the holy fire of all 
his hopes, the offspring of his faith in his God realized 
and blazing high in consummation upon the emblazon- 
ed altars of his stupendous labors and duties for his com- 
mon country ? 

The Commander-in-Chief was not always to be seen 
(like to many of the other officers of the army) crossing 
our pathways daily. Sometimes his labors would keep 
him out of our sight for a week or for two weeks at a 
time, and so (also it may be stated) of La Fayette, who 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 187 

was the bosom friend and soldier brother of our belov- 
ed chief. When these two great chiefs were seen sep-^ 
arate and apart from all the other officers, and in close 
and quiet converse together, then it was customary 
for soldier to say to soldier: "Now boys look out for 
a skirmish or a battle wuth the British," "there is some- 
thing brewing," "I'll warrant you, there is some plans 
laying," "you'll see, there is some grand exploit on foot 
now." Huzza boys keep a sharp look out, &c. &c. — 
These camp byewords uttered on these occasions were 
not idle words, for so certain as Washington and La Fay- 
ette were seen thus, as certain it Avas, that a skirmish 
or a battle ensued, or some expedition was made and 
something worthy of remark transpired shortly after- 
wards. 

Before an expedition of any kind was made, General 
Washington (if it was possible) w^ould procure the ser- 
vices of a Minister of the Gospel to preach to the army 
upon the Sabbath. This v/as another sure signal that 
some struggle was about to be made by- the Commander- 
in-Chief. A signal so certain, that the soldiers relied 
upon it wath as much certainty, as if they had receiv^ed 
orders to march, or had known the purport of the expe- 
dition. 

When a Minister was obtained, it was customary to 
make some elevation (upon which the Preacher stood) 
by nailing up a board or two at some distance from the 
ground. Sometimes a few logs would be rolled togeth- 
er or piled up one upon the other. Sometimes an empty 
hogshead w^ould be placed on end, and a board or two 
laid crossw^ays upon the head, and a few steps of some 
kind erected along side of it to enable the Minister to 
get upon it. The soldiers would be formed into a large 
circle around the spot occupied by the Minister, and af- 
ter stacking their arms they w^ould stand up on their feet 
or sit down upon the ground as w^ould best suit them 
until the Minister would deliver his discourse. 

I recollect whilst upon this expedition, that General 
Washington had procured the services of a Minister w^ho 



188 LIFE OF 

was quite a small man. A hogshead was placed on an 
end and the men formed into a large circle around it. 
The officers (among them Generals Washington and 
La Fayette) and music, within the ring and seated in 
groups immediately around where the Preacher was to 
stand. The man of God mounted the hogshead and af- 
ter praying and singing commenced his discourse. He 
had proceeded to a considerable length therein and be- 
ing quite enlisted in his own discourse, feeling no doubt 
the force of what he said, and moving about with some- 
what of a warmth upon the hogshead, the head of which 
(owing perhaps to its having stood in the sun sometime,) 
had become somewhat loose gave way and he fell down 
into the hogshead. He being low of stature the upper 
"cAw?ie'' of which, almost hid his head from the view 
of the soldiers. He continued to jump up and to show his 
head above the hogshead, and still preached on. This 
caused quite a hearty and loud laugh among the soldiers. 
The officers immediately jumped to their feet and by the 
time that some assisted him in getting out and replaced 
him upon the hogshead, (which was done by placing a 
board across the top of it) others succeeded in quieting 
the soldiers, and restored order in all parts of the circle. 
This accident happened towards the heel of his dis- 
course. When matters were again adjusted, the Min- 
ister mounted the hogshead again and proceeded with 
his discourse as if nothing had happpened until he finish- 
ed his sermon and made a final close of the exercises. 
The place where this happened I do not now recollect. 

The following eloquent Revolutionary Sermon preach- 
ed on the 10th of September, 1777, the eve of the bat- 
tle of Brandywine, by the Rev. Jacob Front, to a large 
portion of the American soldiers, in the presence of Gen- 
eral Washington and General Wayne, and others of the 
continental army, was recently discovered among some 
old papers of Major John Jacob Schoefmyer, an officer 
of the Revolution. It should be perused by every lover 
of patriotism : 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 189 

REVOLUTIONARY SERMON. 

** They that take the sword shall perish by the sword. V 

Soldiers and Countrymen: — We have met this even- 
ing perhaps for the last time. We have shared the toil 
of the march, the peril of the fight, the dismay of the re- 
treat — alike we have endured cold and hunger, the con- 
tumely of the internal foe, and outrage of the foreign op- 
pressor. We have sat, night after night, beside the 
same camp fire, shared the same rough soldiers' fare, 
we have together heard the roll of the reveille, which 
called us to duty, or the beat of the tattoo, which gave 
the signal for the sleep of the hardy soldier, with the 
earth for his bed, the knapsack for his pillow. 

And now soldiers and brethren, we have met in the 
valley, on the eve of battle, while the sunlight is dying 
away behind yonder heights, the sunlight that to-morrow 
morn, will glimmer on scenes of blood. We have met, 
amid the whitening tents of our encampment ; in times 
of terror and gloom, have we gathered together — God 
grant it may not be for the last time. 

It is a solemn moment. Brethren, does not the 
solemn voice of nature seem to echo the sympathies of 
the hour? The flag of our country droops heavily from 
yonder staff, the breeze has died away along the green 
plain of Chadd's Ford — the plain that spreads before 
us, glistening in sunlight^ — the heights of the Bran- 
dywine arise gloomy and grand beyond the waters of 
yonder stream, and all nature holds a pause of solemn 
silence, on the eve of the uproar of the bloodshed and 
strife of to-morrow. 

*' They that take the sword shall perish by the sword." 

And have they not taken the sword ? 

Let the desolate plain, theblood-soddened valley, the 
burned farm house, blackening in the sun, the sacred 
village and the ravaged town, answer — let the whiten- 
ing bones of the butchered farmer, strewn along the 
fields of his homestead, answer — let the starving mother, 
with the babe clinging to the withered breast, that can 



190 • LIFE OF 

afford no sustenance, let her answer, with the death-rat- 
tle mingling with the murmuring tones, that mark the 
last struggle for life — let the dying mother and her babe' 
answer ! 

It was but a day past and our land slept in the light; 
of peace. War was not here — wrong was not here. — 
Fraud, and wo, and misery, and want, dwelt not among 
us. From the eternal solitude of the green woods, arose 
the blue smoke of the settler's cabin, and golden fields 
of corn looked forth from amid the waste of the wilder- 
ness, and the glad music of human voices awoke the 
silence of the forest. 

Now ! God of mercy, behold the change ! — Under the' 
shadow of a pretext, under the sanctity of the name oi 
God, invoking the Redeemer to their aid, do these for- 
eign hirelings slay our people! They throng our towns, 
they darken our plains, and now they encompass our 
posts on the lonely plain of Chadd's Ford. 

" They that take the sword shall perish by the sword.'* 

Brethren, think me not unworthy of belief, when I 
tell you that the doom of the British is near! Think, 
me not vain, when I tell you that beyond the cloud that 
now enshrouds us, I see gathering, thick and fast, the 
darker cloud and the blacker storm of a Divine Retri- 
bution ! 

They may conquer us on to-morrow I Might andj 
wrong may prevail, and we may be driven from this field 
— but the hour of God's own vengeance will come ! 

Aye, if in the vast solitudes of eternal space, if in 
the heart of the boundless universe, there throbs the be- 
ing of an awful God, quick to avenge, and sure to punish 
guilt, then will the man, George of Brunswick, called! 
King, feel in his brain and in his heart, the vengeance 
of the eternal Jehovah? A blight will be upon his life 
— a withered brain, an accursed intellect — a blight will 
be upon his children, and on his people. Great God ! 
how dreadful the punishment ! 

A crowded populace, peopling the dense towns where 
the man of money thrives, while the laborer starves i 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 191 

want striding among the people in all the forms of ter- 
ror ; an ignorant and God-deiying priesthood chuckling 
over the miseries of millions ; a proud and merciless 
nobility adding wrong to wrong, and heaping insult 
upon robbery and fraud ; royalty corrupt to the very- 
heart; aristocracy rotten to the core ; crime and want 
linked hand in hand, and tempting men to deeds of woe 
and death — these are a part of the doom and the retri- 
bution that shall come upon the English throne and the 
English people ! 

Soldiers — I look around upon your familiar faces with 
a strange interest ! To-morrow morning w^e will all go 
forth to battle — for need I tell you that your unworthy- 
minister will march with you, invoking God's aid in the 
fight ? — we will march forth to battle ! Need 1 exhort 
you to'fightthe good fight, to fight for your homesteads^, 
and for your waves and children? 

My friends, I might urge you to fight, by the galling 
memories of British wrong! Walton — I might tell you 
of your father butchered in the silence of midnight on 
the plains of Trenton ; I might picture his gray hairs 
dabbled in blood; I might ring his death-shriek in your 
ears. Shelmire, I might tell you of a mother butcher- 
ed, and a sister outraged — the lonely farm-house, the 
night assault, the roof in flames, the shouts of the troop- 
ers as they despatched their victim, the cries of mercy, 
the pleading of innocence for pity. I might paint this 
all again, in the terrible colors of the vivid reality, if I 
thought your courage needed such wild excitement. 

But I know you are strong in the might of the Lord. 
You will go forth to battle on the morrow with light 
hearts and determined spirits, though the solemn duty 
— the duty of avenging the dead — may rest heavy on 
your souls. 

And in the hour of battle, when all around is dark- 
ness, lit by the lurid cannon glare; and the piercing 
musket flash, when the wounded strew the ground, and 
the dead litter your path — then remember, soldiers, that 
God is with you. The eternal God fights for you — ^he 



192 * LIFE OF 

rides on the battle cloud, he sweeps onward with the 
march of the hurricane charge — God, the Awful and In- 
finite, fights for you, and you will triumph. 

" They that take the sword shall perish by the sword." 

You have taken the sword, but not in the spirit of 
wrong and revenge. You have taken the sword for your 
homes, for your wives, for your little ones. You have 
taken the sword for truth, for justice and right, and to 
you the promise is, be of good cheer, for your foes have 
taken the sword in defiance of all that man holds dear, 
in blasphemy of God — they shall ijerish by the sword. 

And now, brethren and soldiers, I bid you all fare- 
well. Many of us may fall in the fight to-morrow — God 
rest the souls of the fallen — many of us may live to tell 
the story of the fight of to-morrow, and in the memory 
of all will ever rest and linger the quiet scene of this 
autumnal night. 

Solemn twilight advances over ihe valley ; the woods 
on the opposite heights fling their long shadows over the 
green of the meadow — around us are the tents of the 
continental host, the suppressed bustle of the camp, the 
hurried tramp of the soldiers to and fro among the tents, 
the stillness and silence that marks the eve of battle. 

When we meet again, may the long shadows of twi- 
light be flung over a peaceful land. 

God in Heaven grant it. 

Let us pray. 

Prayer of the Revolution. 

Great Father we bow before thee. We invoke thy 
blessing, w^e deprecate thy wrath ; we return thy thanks 
for the past, we ask thy aid for the future. For we are 
in times of trouble, oh! Lord, and sore beset by foes, 
merciless and unpitying ; the sword gleams over our land 
and the dust of the soil is dampened with the blood of ! 
our neighbors and friends. 

Oh ! God of mercy, we pray thy blessing on the Ameri- I 
can arras. Make the man of our hearts strong in thy 
wisdom ; bless, we beseech thee, with renewed life and 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 193 

"strength, our hope, and Thy instrument, even George 
Washington, — shower Thy counsels on the Honorable, 
the Continental Congress ; visit the tents of our hosi, 
comfort the soldier in his wounds and afflictions, nerve 
him for the fight, and prepare him for the hour of death. 

And in the hour of defeat, oh ! God of Hosts, do thou 
be our stay, and in the hour of triumph be thou our 
guide. 

Teach us to be merciful. Though the memory of 
galling wrongs be at our hearts, knocking for admit- 
tance, that they may fill us with desires of revenge, yet 
let us, oh ! Lord, spare the vanquished, though they 
never spared us, in their hour of butchery and bloodshed. 
And, in the hour of death, do thou guide us into the 
abode prepared for the blest ; so shall we return thanks 
unto thee through Christ, our Redeemer. — God prosper 
THE CAUSE — Jimen. 

" Many proofs can be adduced to prove that General 
Washington was steady in his possessed faith in the 
helping agency of the strong arm of the living God, made 
bare to save. That he carried his country and her 
glorious cause of freedom up to the Most High in fer- 
vent supplications or prayers to Him who gives not the 
race to the swift, nor yet the battle to the strong — to 
Him who maketh the clouds and darkness his pavilion 
and who rideth upon the whirlwind and directeth the 
storm — to him who sitteth at the helm of affairs and 
guideth all things aright. He was most unquestion- 
ably Heaven's constituted servant to gain the Indepen- 
dence of my Columbia." — Hamia's Glory of Columbia, 

The following interesting incident, as proof of the as- 
sertion, is placed here for perusal by my readers : 

**One pleasant evening in the month of June, in the 
year 17 — , a man was observed entering the borders of 
a wood, near the Hudson river, his appearance that of a 
person above the common rank. The inhabitants of a 
country village would have dignified him with the title 
17 



194 ' LIFE OF 

of 'squire, and from his manner have pronounced him i 
proud; but those more accustomed to society, would | 
inform you, there was something like a military airi, 
about him. His horse panted as if it had been hard 
pushed for some miles, yet from the owner's frequent! 
stops to caress the patient animal, he could not bel 
charged with want of humanity ; but seemed to be actu-ji 
ated by some urgent necessity. The rider's forsaking aj; 
good road for the by-path leading through the woods, 
indicated a desire to avoid the gaze of other travellers. 
He had not left the house where he inquired the direc-y^ 
tion of the above mentioned path more than two hours,i 
before the quietude of the place was broken by the 
noise of distant thunder. He was soon after obliged to^ 
dismount, travelling becoming dangerous, as darkness 
concealed surrounding objects, except when the light- 
ning's flash afforded him a momentary view of his situa-' 
tion. A peal, louder and of longer duration than any oi,l 
the preceding, which now burst over his head, seeming 
as if it would rend the woods asunder, was quickly fol- 
lowed by a heavy fall of rain, which penetrated the 
clothing of the stranger ere he could obtain the shelter*! 
of a large oak which stood at a little distance. | 

Almost exhausted with the labours of the day, he was 
about making such disposition of the saddle and his owr 
coat as would enable him to pass the night with what 
comfort circumstances would admit, w^hen he espied v^ 
light glimmering through the trees. Animated witl: 
the hope of better lodgings, he determined to proceed 
The v.'ay, which v/as somewhat steep, became attendee 
with more obstacles the farther he advanced, the soi 
being composed of clay, which the rain had renderec 
so soft that his feet slipped at every step. By the uV 
most perseverance, this difficulty was finally overcomfl^ji 



* However desirable a shelter a large and branching (ree with its thict 
foliage would constidite, the author of (he present work is not prepared tf 
believe that General Washington would for a moment be tempted to act sc 
imprudently as to seek shelter under a tree in a thunderstorm. Let aonc' 
therefore, act so unwisely at any time. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 195 

without any accident, and he had the pleasure of find- 
ing himself in front of a decent looking farm house. — 
The watch dog began barking, which brought the own- 
er of the mansion to the door. 

^' Who is there?" said he. 

" A friend, who has lost his way, and in search of a 
place of shelter," was the answer. 

" Come in, sir," added the first speaker, " and what- 
ever my house will afford, you shall have with welcome." 

" I must first provide for the weary companion of my 
journey," remarked the other. 

But the former undertook the task, and after conduct- 
ing the new comer into a room where his wife was seat- 
ed, he led the horse to a well stored barn, and there 
provided for him most bountifully. On rejoining the 
traveller he observed, " That is a noble animal of yours, 
sir." 

"Yes," was the reply, "and I am sorry that I was 
obliged to misuse him, so as to make it necessary to 
give you so much trouble with the care of him ; but I 
have yet to thank you for your kindness to both of us." 

"I did no more than my duty, sir," said the enter- 
tainer, " and therefore am entitled to no thanks." "But 
Susan," added he, turning to the hostess, with a half re- 
proachful look, "why have you not given the gentle- 
man something to eat ?" 

Fear had prevented the good woman from exercising 
her well-known benevolence; for a robbery had been 
committed by a lawless band of depredators but a few 
days before in that neighborhood, and as report stated 
that the ruffians were all well dressed, her imagination 
suggested that this man might be one of them. 

At her husband's remonstrance, she now readily en- 
gaged in repairing her error, by preparing a plentiful 
repast. During the meal, there was much interesting 
conversation among the three. As scon as the worthy 
countryman perceived that his guest had satisfied his 
appetite, he informed him, that it was now the hour at 
which the family usually performed their evening devo- 



196 LIFE Ot 

tions, inviting him at the same time to be present. The 
invitation was accepted in these words: 

"It would afford me the greatest pleasure to com- 
mune with my heavenly Preserver, after the events of 
the day; such exercises prepare us for the repose which 
we seek in sleep." 

The host now reached the Bible from the shelf, and 
after reading a chapter and singing, concluded the whole 
wdth a fervent prayer ; then lighting a pine-knot, con- 
ducted the person he had entertained to his chamber, 
wished him a good night's rest, and retired to the ad- 
joining apartment. 

'^ John," whispered the w^oman, ^^ that is a good gen- 
tleman, and not one of the highwaymen as I supposed." 
"Yes," said he, " I like him better for thinking of his 
God, than for all his kind enquiries after our welfare. I 
wish our Peter had been home from the army, if it was; 
only to hear this good man talk ; I am sure Washington 
himself could not say more for his country, nor give ai 
better history of the hardships endured by our brave 
soldiers." 

" Who knows now," inquired the wife, "but it may 
be he himself, after all, my dear; for they do say hejtj 
travels just so, all alone, sometimes. Hark! what's that?" jr 
The sound of a voice came from the chamber of their I j 
guest, who was now engaged in his private religious |ti 
worship. After thanking the Creator for his many mer- 
cies and askinof ablessino- on the inhabitants of the house, 
he continued, " and now. Almighty Father, if it is thy 
holy will, that we shall obtain a place and a name among 
the nations of the earth, grant that we may be enabled 
to show our gratitude for thy goodness, by our endea- 
vours to fear and obey thee. Bless us with w^isdom in 
our councils, success in battle and let all our victories 
be tempered with humanity. Endov/, also, ourjenemiea 
with enlightened minds, that they may become sensible; 
of their injustice, and willing to restore our liberty and 
peace. Grant the petition of thy servant, for the sake: 
of him whom thou hast called thy beloved Son: never^ 
Iheless not ray will but thine be done,'* 



' 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 197 

The next morning the traveller, declining^ the press- 
ing solicitations to breakfast with his host, declared 
it was necessary for him to cross the river immediately ; 
at the same time offering a part of his purse as a com- 
pensation for what he had received, which was refus- 
ed. 

'^ Well, sir," continued he, "since you will not per- 
mit me to recompense you for your trouble, it is but just 
that I should inform you on whom you have conferred 
so many obligations, and also add to them, by requesting 
your assistance in crossing the river. I had been out 
yesterday endeavoring to obtain some information re- 
specting our enemy, and being alone, ventured too far 
from the camp. On my return, I was surprised by a 
foraging party, and only escaped by my knowledge of 
the roads and the lieetness of my horse. My name is 
George Washington." 

Surprise kept the listener silent for a moment ; then, 
after unsuccessfully repeating the invitation to partake 
of some refreshment, he hastened to call two negroes, 
with whose assistance he placed the horse on a small 
raft of timber that was lying in the river, near the door, 
and soon conveyed the general to the opposite side, 
where he left him to pursue his way to the camp, wish- 
ing him a safe and prosperous journey. On his return 
to the house, he found that while he was engaged in 
making preparations for conveying the horse across the 
river, his illustrious visitor had persuaded his wife to ac- 
cept a token of remembrance, which the family are 
proud of exhibiting to this day. 

The above is only one of the hazards encountered by 
this truly great patriot, for the purpose of transmitting 
to posterity the treasures we now enjoy. Let us ac- 
knowledge the benefits received, by our endeavours to 
preserve them in their purity ; and by keeping in remem- 
brance the great Source whence these blessings flow, 
may we be enabled to render our names worthy of 
being enrolled with that of the " Father of his Country." 
17* 



198 LIFE OF 

*' I have often been informed by Colonel B. Temple, 
(of King William County, Virginia,) who was one of 
his aids in the French and Indian war, that he has fre- 
quently known Washington, on the Sabbath, read scrip- 
tures ahd pray with his regiment, in the absence of the 
chaplain ; and also that, on sudden and unexpected 
visits into his marquee, he has, more than once, found 
him on his knees at his devotions. 

The Reverend Mr. Lee Massey, long a rector of 
Washington's parish, and from early life his intimate,, 
has frequently assured me, that " he never knew so con- 
stant an attendant on church as Washington. And his 
behaviour, in the house of God," added my reverend 
friend, *' was so deeply reverential, that it produced the^ 
happiest effects on my congregation ; and greatly as 
sisted me in my moralizing labours. No company! 
ever withheld him from church. I have often been atj 
Mount Vernon, on the sabbath morning, when his break- 1 
liist table was filled wi h guests. But to him they fur- 
nished no pretext for neglecting his God, and losing the 
^satisfaction of setting a good example. For instead ofi 
staying at home, out of false complaisance to them, he 
used constantly to invite them to accompany him." 

His secretary, judge Harrison, has frequently been 
heard to say, that '* whenever the General could be 
spared from camp on the sabbath, he never failed riding 
out to some neighboring church, to join those who were 
publicly worshipping the Great Creator." 

And while he resided in Philadelphia, as President of 
the United States, his constant and cheerful attendance 
on divine service was such as to convince every reflect- 
ing mind, that he deemed no levee so honorable as that 
of his Almighty Maker; no pleasures equal to those of 
devotion ; and no business a sufficient excuse for neglect 
ing his supreme benefactor. 

In the winter of '77, while Washington, with thei 
American army, lay encamped at Valley Forge, a cer'- 
tain good old friend, of the respectable family and 
name of Potts, if I mistake not, had occasion to passi 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 199 

through the Xvoods near head quarters. Treading in 
his way along the venerable grove, suddenly he heard 
the sound of a human voice, which, as he advanced, in- 
creased on his ear; and at length became like the voice 
of one speaking much in earnest. As he approached the 
spot with a cautious step, whom should he behold, in a 
dark natural bower of ancient oaks, but the commander- 
in-chief of the American armies on his knees at prayer ! 
Motionless with surprise, friend Potts continued on the 
place till the General, having ended his devotions, arose ; 
and, with a countenance of angelic serenity, retired to 
head quarters. Friend Potts then went home, and on 
entering his parlour called out to his wife, " Sarah ! my 
dear Sarah! all's well! all's well! George Weishington 
will yet prevail !" 

"What's the matter, Isaac?" replied she, *Uhee 
5:eems moved.''' 

" Well, if I seemed moved, 'tis no more than what I 
really am. I have this day seen what I never expected. 
Thee knows that I always thought that the sword and 
the gospel were utterly inconsistent; and that no man 
could be a soldier and a christian at the same time. But 
George Washington has this day convinced me of my 
mistake." 

He then related what he had seen, and concluded 
wdth this prophetical remark — " If George Washington 
be not a man of God, I am greatly deceived — and still 
.more shall. I be deceived, if God do not, through him, 
work out a great salvation for America." 

When General W'ashington was told that the British 
troops at Lexington, on the memorable 19th of April, 
1775, had fired on and killed several of the Americans, 
he replied, " I grieve for the death of my countrymen ; 
hut rejoice that the British are still so determined to keep 
God on our side,^^ alluding to that noble sentiment which 
he has since so happily ex p:essed ; viz: " 77/e smiles of 
Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards 
the eternal rules of order and rights which Heaven itself 
ihas ordained.''- — Weems'' Washington, page 182, 



200 LIFE OF 

Sometime previous (I think) to the treason of Arnold 
we went to what was called *' the battle of the Block- 
House." After the army arrived before that British 
post, it commenced bombarding it in fine style. The 
cannon balls and bombs flew thick against it. It was 
too strong, however, for us. After playing upon it for 
a long time and to no purpose, we raised the siege, and 
returned to camp. This block-house was well fortified, 
and besides, it was full of refugee negroes, which kept 
up a constant firing with musketry upon us from port- 
holes at the top of the fortification, and which fires done 
us considerable injury. I recollect one among the kill- 
ed. He was shot above the shoulder on one side, the 
ball having passed in as stated and came out on the 
other side just above the hip-joint. This poor fellow 
had been discharged but a day or two before we march- 
ed to the attack, but had patriotically volunteered and 
joined in the expedition. His name was Zeigler. He 
was buried with others, and with " the honors of war." 
Some of his comrades took his clothes with them to 
camp, in order to give them to his friends, who lived 'i ^ 
not far from West Point encampment. 

Soldier! sleepest thou ? sleepest thou there ? 
Thy spirit's nnchaiii'd and free as the air, 
Thy country thou did'st die for to save, 
Thy long resting Urn, bold patriotism's Grave. 

As we were returning from this siege or from where 
we had been encamped to West Point, there was one of! 
our men (a tailor, and who had at the time the stuff off 
a pair of pantaloons of mine, which I had given him to 
make up for me, and which, bye-the-bye, I never recov-- 
ered again,) deserted from the army, and was going att 
the top of his speed to join the British. He was pur- 
sued by cavalry and others. When they neared him, he: 
fired (having a musket with him) at his pursuers, and his I 
ball cut off a rein of an officer's bridle. From the cir- 
cumstance of its being said at the time that he had " cut| 
off the bridle rein of the Marquis's bridle," this and hisi 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 201 

having been hung without a court martial, and without 
being ^' tried" even '' by the drum-head," I must state, 
that that officer, a Marquis, could have been none other 
than the Marquis de La Fayette. Should my readers 
ask why would de La Fayette pursue him ? I answer 
that he would have gone as great a length at any time, 
and encounter as much danger, and sacrifice as much as 
any other, to have kept the English from becoming pos- 
sessed of a fund of intelligence, which they would not 
have failed to have used to their own greatest advantage. 

After he had discharged his musket at the officer, he 
w^as captured and brought back. We being on the 
march at the time, continued it until noon. A halt being 
called, we sat down and engaged ourselves in eating a 
biie of bread and cold beef. The musicians occupying 
the centre of the column on its march, w^e had therefore 
no opportunity of knowing what was going on in front. 
After we had rested and refreshed ourselves, we were 
ordered to beat up the Long Roll. When the troop was 
again formed into marching order, we were ordered on. 
We had not marched far, until we beheld this deserter 
hanging over the road, he having been suspended to the 
limb of a tree. We were marched directly under where 
he hunpf. There were some refuo-ee nes^roes that had 
been captured in a house in our route ; these the officers 
made to hang him. As I before stated, this deserter 
had been hung without the benefit of a trial. His of- 
fence was punished with immediate death. There were 
none in the army, excepting the soldiers in front, that 
knew any thing of his execution, until they beheld him 
hanging over head in their march. The army moved 
on and left him hanging, a warning to all that beheld 
him. It is likely, however, that after the army passed 
that fatal spot, some of the soldiers v/ere secretly detach- 
ed to bury him. If this was the case, it never came to 
the ears of the soldiers composing the army that was en- 
gaged in that expedition. 

At another time we were upon a march to or from some 
place, the name of which and the object of the expedi- 



202 • LIFE OF 

tion is now altogether gone from my mind. We had 
taken a refugee — tory, whom the officers had placed on 
the march with the provo guard. The night after he| 
was captured, one of our soldiers deserted and was direct- 
ing his course to the British camp, which w^as not very far 
distant. He was pursued immediately by three or four 
light horsemen, who overtook him near to the British 
lines. He having his musket with him, took deliberate 
aim at one of the light horsemen, and shot him dead. 
This was no sooner done, than another of the horse- 
men fired and killed him. They then cut off his head I 
and brought it to the camp. The next day the soldiers: 
v/ere ordered to build a gallows, and placed the head of 
the deserter on a sharp pin (stuck into one of the posts) 
with his face turned inwards. They then hanged the 
refugee upon the gallows, and after he was dead they 
took him down and cut his head off. They then placed 
it on another pin stuck in the other post, turning his face 
inwards and towards the face of the deserter. The gal- 
lows was built in a yard in front of an old tory's house. 
We left the gallows standing and decorated as above 
described for the tories to look at and rejoice over. — 
They were prohibited from cutting it down, a job that 
they would have had few scruples to have done, if they 
had been sure that no true American's eye would not be 
upon them. For men that would aid the British, sell 
their country and country's best friends through cowar- 
dice, for love of monarchy and gold, would have had no 
conscientious scruples to have deterred them from doing 
any thing. 

In our march we came to a place (not now recollect- 
ed) and encamped for a few days. Whilst we jaid here, 
a soldier was tried for some crime he had committed, 
and was to receive seven hundred lashes or death, and 
in case he was to survive that tremendous flogging, he 
was to be drummed out of camp. He was brought out 
to the whipping- post, and we (musicians) Fifers and 
Drummers were summoned forward, and ordered to strip 
off our coats. The prisoner was then stripped (his shirt 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 203 

being taken off as well as coat and jacket,) and tied up 
to the post by the Fife and Drum Majors. This done, 
the Drum Major (with his rattan in his hand) handed 
thecat-o'-ninc-tails to one of the musicians, whose duty 
it is, with the rest of the musicians to inflict this kind of 
punishment at all times. The Drum Major then said to 
the first (into whose hands he had put the cat-o'-nine- 
tails, '* give him five lashes, well laid on." This done, 
the Major cried stop, and then bade him hand the Cat- 
o'-nine-tails to another, in order that he should do like- 
wise, and thus the " CaV passed from one to another, 
and from each, whilst he held it, to the back of the suf- 
ferer until he received the seven hundred lashes, the 
number of lashes contained in the sentence of the Court 
Martial. Here it is to be observed, that any musician 
striking w^ith a light hand at any time for the purpose of 
favoring the prisoner, such musician would have receiv- 
ed on his own back the rattan in the hand of the Drum 
Major, and that well laid on too. The Drum Major has 
no merciful manner in the execution of his duty, but 
gives it hard as he would be able to draw it upon the 
back of the delinquent musician. When this prisoner 
was thus whipped, he was found to be still living. He 
was then untied and laid down with his face to the 
ground, and then pack salt strewed over his back. 
They then took a small paddle-board and ^^paited^^ it 
down, beating it thus into the gashes, and then laid him 
by for awhile until he recovered a little. The salt was 
put upon it thus, after all, in mercy 1o him (to cleanse 
his wounds and enable them to heal) cruel as it would 
seem. When he recovered sufficiently to enable him to 
march, w^e then had to escort him in playing and beat- 
ing the Rogues' March after him. We escorted him 
thus to some distance from the camp. It was admitted 
by all, that the poor fellow had his discharge upon his 
back. He never returned again, or at least I never savr 
him more. In an instance like this, before that fifty 
lashes would be given, the back of the sufferer would 
be all cut and like a jelly, and the cat-o'-nine-tails would 



204 * LIFE OF 

get so bloody and heavy that another cat-o'-nine-tails 
would be substituted for it, and so on until the flogging 
would be ended. It would have been far better for the 
sentenced soldier to have been whipped with one only, 
for using other ones in the way I have described, caused 
fearful looking lacerations and dreadful sufferings. The 
cords being dry and small when first used, they pene- 
trated deeper into the gashes raade in the flesh than the 
cords would have done, had one only been used. 

About this time we were ordered back into quarters at 
West Point. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Sometime after we returned to West Point, a circum 
stance transpired which nearly cost me my life. Therei 
was a vessel laden with apples lying near the New Eng-1 
land shore. Myself and comrades were very anxious to 
become possessed of some of them. As none of the( 
musicians but myself could swim to any great distance, 
I volunteered to swim across the river for that purpose. 
I placed a knapsack upon my back and put the money 
into the lining of my cap, and plunged into the river and 
swam across to the vessel. When I arrived on the deck, 
of the vessel, all hands were surprised when I asked 
them for apples. Some of them cried out " where the 

d 1 have you come from." I told them I had 

come from West Point encampment for the purpose 
of buying apples, stating at the same time that I 
had brought money along to pay for them, as also 
a knapsack to carry them over in. The master of the 
vessel then filled my knapsack w^ith apples, for which I 
paid him his price. He and the hands aboard fastened) 
my knapsack upon my back, and assisted me in descend- 
ing the wooden steps to the water's edge. To the steps 
there were ropes attached on each side to hold on by 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 205 

When I had descended the steps to the edge of the water, 
the master and crew of the vessel advised me not to ven- 
ture, saying that I would be drowned and offered to car- 
ry my apples and self over the river in their boat. This 
offer I rejected, being perhaps a little vain of my abili- 
ties as a swimmer. But if I was a little proud of my 
performances, I possessed something worth being proud 
of, for no man I ever met with could out go me in 
swimming. It seemed to me that I could walk (tread) 
in the water, as long and as far as it might please me, 
and could swim upon my back any distance I chose 
to swim to. 

Notwithstanding the generous offer made to me by 
the crew, I dashed off into the water in fine spirits, and 
swam off with my load and had succeeded in reaching 
better than half way across the river. I do not recol- 
lect the width of the river at West Point, but suppose 
I had swam fully half a mile. All at once a monster of 
a Sturgeon jumped up out of the water very near to me, 
and making a great splashing and noise about me at the 
same time. Being frightened at this moment, thinking 
it might be a Shark, *^ I began to pull away for life,^^ 
This swimming in so hurried and hard a manner caused 
me to let water into my throat, which strangled me very 
much, and I began to sink. But as a kind Providence 
would have it, the tide was out at the time, and when I 
began to sink, I found bottom with my feet. This so 
encouraged me at the moment that my strength renew- 
ed itself, and by making a powerful effort I succeeded 
in reaching the land and my comrades in safety with 
my apples. As is with the jacktar in a storm, it was 
with me then. This made a deep impression for the 
moment, but I suppose it was soon lost (as are their 
impressions in a calm over a flowing cann) in making 
our eager repast — that of feasting upon my cargo of mel- 

' low and delicious apples. The ship's crew cheered tre- 
mendously when they saw me reach the shore in safety. 
The musicians had a certain duty besides camp duty 
to perform daily. Sometimes once each day and sorae^ 

I 18 



206 • LIFE OF 

times twice, we had to repair with the Drum and Fife 
Majors to a short distance from the camp and practice 
in playing on the Fife and in beating on the Drum. The 
Fife Major taught the Fifers and the Drum Major the^ 
Drummers. There were, how^ever, grown musicians ; 
that had not to attend these musical drills. Some of' 
them though accompanied us, and assisted the Drum 
and Fife Majors in teaching. There was one of this 
class, a Fifer named Brown, who was a British deserter. 
He was a capital Fifer. Brown frequently assisted thej 
Fife Major in his duties of teaching. 

When I lived in Wormelsdorf, Pa., after the Revolu- 
tion and previous to the Whiskey Insurrection, Brown 
passed through there as an enlisted soldier in a com- 
pany of regulars, which was bound westward in its 
march to join General Wayne's array in its expeditions 
against the Indians down the Ohio river. 

When this duty of practising upon the Fife and Drums 
■was ended (it being done early in the forenoon in gen- 
eral, or else late in the afternoon) we were then at liber- 
ty generally to amuse ourselves by strolling out in dif- 
ferent directions and for various purposes. Oftentimes .^ 
Ave made up companies and went to the river to bathe, ^ 
or to fight a sham battle in the river. There was a large 
round rock (flat upon the top) in the Hudson river, and 
which stood within 30 or 40 yards of the shore. It waSs 
quite a perpendicular rock at the sides. W^hen the tide 
was out it w^as generally bare for the most part. Some- 
times when the tide was not very high, a foot or so 
ef some parts of its surface would show itself above 
the water. We called this our Fort. We musicians > 
^nd others of the younger soldiers would often make up ' 
companies, appoint our Captains and other officers, and 
repair to this rock to have sport in taking and re- 
taking this Fort from each other. I being among the 
best of the swimmers, was always chosen to belong to 
that company which was to act the part of the besiegers. 
We made large balls of grass by twisting it, and wind- 
ing it like yarn into a ball. One party would take pos- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 207 



;\vim 



session of it, and the men of the other parly would s^ 
up as a squadron abreast, and endeavor to take it by 
storm. When we came near, our bombardment and a 
general action took place. We would '■'•peW those 
upon the rock with our grass balls, whilst they in return 
would pelt us. If we could succeed in getting upon 
the rock we would grapple with its possessors and de- 
fenders, and succeeded often in pushing them off from 
the top of the Fort. Sometimes when "c/inc/icri" thus, 
several pairs would plunge over its sides into the water 
together. When this happened to be the case, all knew 
their duty to themselves and to each other, and would 
instantly relinquish their holds one upon the other. If 
a number succeeded in reaching the top of the rock, all 
those upon it would often (after consuming their ammu- 
nition)jump off into the water. Which done, the besieg- 
ers became the besieged in turn, and the besieged (that 
was) became the besiegers. This mode of warfare af- 
forded us much good sport. Sometimes we would dive 
from off its top. Other times we would stand on its 
edge and turn somersets into the water. 

Owing to the hill rising very bluff and high from the 
shore, the water at this place was very deep. I recol- 
lect in diving down along side of this rock, that its sides 
were perpendicular like to a w^all of a house. Some- 
times when we were there and in the midst of our plea- 
sant sport, the *' Orderly Drummer" at camp would beat 
up "the Drummer's Call;" each musician would (upon 
hearing the first tap of the drum) plunge into the water, 
swim swiftly to shore, and then be all splutter, for after 
picking up his clothes each would dress the best way he 
could as he ran for camp. 

When the tide made strong to the shore it acted as 
conqueror in taking possession of our Fort, and would 
not permit us to play upon its surface. At such a time 
its top would often be many feet under water. W^hen 
this was the case, we recreated ourselves by performiur; 
in some other way. Hopping, jumping and rannij?^; 
often afforded us plenty of amusement. 



208 ♦ LIFE OF 

I remember when General Arnold was fired after, that 
I (with other musicians) was engaged in swimming in 
the Hudson river. Hearing the " orderly" at eamp beat-; 
ing up the Drummer's Call, we hurried our clothes on,, 
dressing indeed as we ran, and made all the haste we 
possibly could until we reached the camp. Shortly after 
our arrival at camp, the " alarm guns" (cannon) were fir- 
ed, and upon our hearing the third of w^hich, we beat up 
*'to arms," "to arms." A history of Arnold's treason 
and the capture and execution of Andre, I shall now 
present to my readers. 

As soon as the news of Arnold's treachery reached 
the Forts, alarm guns were fired. The first gun in cases 
of alarm is a token, and when the second gun is fired 
all are in readiness to hear the third fired. The fife 
and drum majors have their musicians in readiness, and 
the moment the third gun is fired, the musicians instant 
ly strike or beat up the air or tune '-^ to arms," *' to arms.'^" 
In this case (at West Point) the second gun very soon 
followed the first, and the third sooner than the second. 
None in camp could imagine what it was — what such 
tremendous roaring of cannon could be indicative of. 
The largest cannon mounted in the fort was the one made 
choice of to vomit out execrations against Arnold and 
tories, and warnings to the three brigades lying at and 
near to West Point, as well also to others at a sojpewhat 
remote distance, but not so far as to be out of the 
hearing of that loud and faithful messenger. 

The firing of three cannon so loud and so quick in 
succession caused a dreadful commotion in the whole 
line of extended camps. The musicians belonging ta 
the whole army (myself included among the number) at 
the instant the third gun was fired, played and beat up 
the tune to arms, to arms, and in less than five minutes^ 
the whole of the two or three brigades were in line and 
under arms, the field officers all mounted on horseback 
and at their posts awaiting the orders of the Command- 
ing General, as also a knowledge of what had given 
rise to so hasty an alarm. We were not lon^, however,^ 



APTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



209' 




iS^ 



210 LIFE OF 

under arms before the much desired knowledge was be- 
stowed in being officially announced unto us — that of 
the traitorism of Arnold and the capture of Andre. At 
this intelligence the whole army was (as it were) con- \ 
vulsed. We stood almost day and night upon our arms, 
for I suppose three days and three nights at least. We 
were to be compared to swarms of bees without king or 
queen until a beloved father, a beloved Washington vis- 
ited and passed personally among the encampments at 
West Point. Love of country, love for Washington, 
love and praise for Paulding, Williams and Van Wert, 
the captors of Andre, and anger and execrations for and 
towards Arnold ; Andre, the tories and the British min- 
ions were the alternate emotions w^ithin the breasts of 
all ranks and conditions of the American soldiery at 
West Point. Arnold as soon as he was apprized of the 
capture of Andre departed hastily. It was stated then, 
that he was beheld at a distance in his flight and fired 
upon from one of the forts, but he was so far off that 
the pursuing shots could take no effect. 

Major John Andre, adjutant General of the British 
army at one time wrote a sarcastic doggeral song to 
the tune of Yankee Doodle, having been partly induced no 
doubt to do so, from the circumstance of General Wayne 
having been detached into New Jersey from Valley Forge 
in the winter of 1777 and '8, with a body of troops to 
destroy forage, which was likely to fall into the hands 
of the British and for the purpose of purchasing and pres- 
;s)ng cattle for the use of the American army— and part- 
ly in consequence of the contemptuous opinion entertain- 
ed by the British for our gallant officers and soldiers of lha.t 
day. 

In some parts of his doggeral his object was to show 
oiTthe Americans, officers and men, as kind of half sol- 
diers and half something else. Not admitting with the^ 
roost incontrovertible evidence before him, that they were 
magnanimous, and as brave in battle as they were mag- 
nanimous. 

That this was his true object the last verse of the song 
offers proof. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 211 

"But now I end my lyric strain — 
I tremble while I show it ! 
Lest this same warriodrover. Wayne, 
Should ever catch the poet." 

"The unfortunate poet's fate has changed his mock- 
heroic to a tragic strain ; for when taken, he was dehv- 
ered to Wayne, at Tappan,'' by Lieutenant Col. Jame- 
son. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The capture of Major Andre by Paulding, Williams 
and Van Wert, of the New- York Militia, his trial, exe- 
cution as a SPY, and the traitorism of Arnold which 
led thereto, all conspired to fill the mmds of many with 
gloomy apprehensions and was the all engrossing subject 
within and without the American camps. Arnold had 
distinguished himself on many occasions on his coun- 
try's battle fields as among the bravt^st of brave men, 
had fought and encouraged his men to fight, and sought 
the hottest of the action at repeated times, and th.%i too 
without any regard to self. He had signalized himself 
as a brave man, as well in the eyes of the Commander- 
in-Chief and the oflScers and soldiers in the army as in 
the eyes of Congress and the people of the colonies gen- 
erally, and strange perha)"is to relate he had poured out 
his bloo<:l upon his country's battle fields. Had it not 
been for these, he could not have passed undetected the 
supervisional glances of the keen eagle eye of Washing- 
ton. Had it not been for his extraordinary bravery and 
merit as an ofScer, he would have occupied a s^ituation 
far different — that of not being above suspicion in the 
estimation of Washington. 

It appears that the Governo<r ©f Pennsylvania prefer- 
ed charges to Congress against Arnold when he held 
the command at Philadelphia after the British evacua- 
ted it in the year 1778. Arnold was arrested at the in- 



212 LIFE OF 

stance of Congress, and put upon his trial by court mar- 
tial. He was sentenced to be reprimanded by Wash- 
ington. Congress approved of the sentence, and he was 
forthwith reprimanded by the Commander-in-Chief. 

From this moment ("or sooner'^ says a writer,) Ar- 
nold's hate swelled within his bosom, and he sought to 
avenge himself by making his bleeding country to pour 
forth her blood more copiously and afresh. He sought 
by various means to sink her deep in the damning cup 
of a sweeping desolation, and to annihilation itself. — 
Under the pretext that the wounds he had previously re- 
ceived unfitted him for the ardous duties of the field, he 
preferred receiving the command of West Point, the 
Gibralter of the young Republic. Could he but sell this, 
all others would naturally follow or be thrown (as he 
thought thereby) into the bargain. This was his hellish 
scheme, his diabolical purpose of blackness of darkness 
and nothins: less. 

Washington and some of his brother Generals (among 
them General La Fayette,) were engaged in the exam- 
ination of some parts of the outworks of the fort. The 
aid of General Washington had called at the residence 
of Arnold, and happened to be there wdien Andre's note 
washanded to Arnold. The reportthat the aids made was, 
that Arnold became pale, retreated precipitately from the 
room, and made known to his wife the perilous situation 
he had plunged himself into, at the news of which she 
swooned. The condition of his wnfe could not restrain 
him from becoming a fugitive from justice, he mounted 
his aid-de-camp's charger and dashed away requesting 
ere he started that General Washington might be inform- 
ed, that he was gone to West Point to make arrange- 
ments for his, (^the Commander-in-Chief's) reception at 
that post. 

Arnold directed his course towards the river, to which 
his spirited horse in his lieetness soon conveyed him. 
By the means of a canoe, he was enabled to reach the Bri- 
tish vessel the Vulture, that laid beyond the distance of 
long shot on the opposite side of the Hudson. When 



CAPTA.IN SAMUEL DEWEES. 213 

the aids-de-camp of Generals Washington and La Fay- 
ette, Colonels Hamilton and McHenry informed Wash- 
ington of Arnolds having gone to West Point for the 
purpose of making arrangements for his reception, it was 
natural for Washington to think nought else than it was 
really so. But reader picture the astonishment of Wash 
ington, the fluctuations of his patriotic bosom between 
hope and fear when he was informed that General Arnold 
had not arrived. On receiving Colonel Jameson's des- 
patch his conduct lost its strange face and stood forihbasso 
relievo in all its fearfulness and damning consequences. 

The Commander-in-Chief lost not a moment of time, 
but set him about to strengthen his works and put all in 
a more effective state of defence at West Point. 

General Washington in the manliness of his patriotic 
soul, requested one of his aids to inform Mrs. Arnold 
that her husband, (although no exertions or pains had 
been spared in efforts to capture him) was safe. He 
suffered her to go on to Philadelphia. He sent Arnold 
his clothes and baggage in accordance with the request 
he had made of him by letter. He then conveyed Mrs. 
Arnold to her husband in New- York under the protec- 
tion of a flag. 

I have stated that these circumstances filled the minds 
of many with gloomy apprehensions for the future, but 
if they did, it w^as a source of great joy to very many 
that the plot was so timely discovered. 

*' When the probable consequences of this plot, had it 
been successful, were considered, and the combination of 
apparent accidents by which it was discovered and defeat- 
ed, was recollected, all were filled with awful astonish- 
ment, and the devout perceived in the transaction the hand 
of Providence ; guiding America to Independence. 

Major Andre's case was referred to a board of general 
officers, among them was General's La Fayette and Steu- 
ben, General Greene presided over this Court. The 
court after a labored investigation of his case, arrrived at 
the conclusion that he was justly considered to fall vvith- 
in the pale of the la\Ys of nations, which chardcteri?;ed 



214 • LIFE OF 

him as a spy. They were of opinion also, that " he ought 
to suffer death." 

On the day after this sentence was rendered, it was 
executed. 

However much that same board and other officers of 
the army, soldiers and people might have sympathized 
with Andre, still, they could say amen to his sentence 
and execution, believing that his execution as a spy was 
highly demanded. There was a great degree of sym- 
pathy manifested in his case ; his appearance was very 
prepossessing, being what was generally termed a very 
handsome man. It is true Major Andre had exhibited 
a great degree of frankness and manliness in his conduct 
of honor and feelings of humanity as well before his 
capture as after. But honorable and humane as he was 
esteemed to be, he it must be recollected was a spy from 
the camp of an open and avowed enemy — but brave 
and fearless as he was considered and exhibited "himself 
to be, he it must be remembered was a British officer, 
who had engaged in a dishonorable transaction — a trans- 
action although far too low for so lofty a nature as he 
was acknowledged to have possessed, yet had by all 
usages of war forfeited his life. Whilst our own admir- 
able Captain Nathaniel Hale of the revolutionary war, 
who perished as a spy in a British camp on Long Island, 
is forgotten by American citizens, Andre to this day 
has (unfortunately for the memory of many of the mar- 
tyred spirits of my Columbia's exalted glory,) a much 
stronger hold than Hale upon the sympathies and affec- 
tions of many, very and by far too many of the Ameri- 
can people. A course which is as shameful as it is un- 
grateful and unjust. Laud a perished life- forfeiting enemy 
to the skies, and never name as he ought to be named, 
this our own perished patriotic American son of thunder. 
Captain Hale gave proofs of bravery strong as ever An- 
dre did, proofs as undoubted as those evinced by Leon- 
idas of the Spartan band at the pass of Thermopylae, and 
his conduct was far hiorein accordance with his, having 
first sat down and counted the cost of his expedition^ 



CAPTAIN SAMU£L DEWEESj 2l5 

than that of Major Andre* Hale, the Columbian SON 
with a LION'S HEART and a soldier's HONOR nev- 
er strove to bribe his captors as did Andre the three vir- 
tuous, brave, unbribed, unbought and free, uncorrupted 
and incorruptible militia men, Paulding, Williams and 
Van Wert. No! He was prepared to yield the forfeit 
and bowed in resignation to that fate which awaited hini 
according to the usages of war. 

When Captain Hale (after his capture) was conduct- 
ed into the presence of the haughty and supercilious Gen* 
Howe, the British Commander, he quailed not, and when 
that imperious General with a look that carried the know- 
ledge of an irreversible judgment within it, asked Hale 
as follows ; "young man do you know the reward of your 
temerity ? Do you know your doom ?" Answered la- 
conically " I DO. DEATH." 

SYMPATHY. 

"O smile to those that smile on thee; 

For there is nought on earth so sweet 

As when the heart is full of glee, 

A look of kindred glee to meet; 

The evening star, that shines alone. 

Can scarcely through the shades be known ; 

But when her sisters all arise; 

How brilliant are the midnight skies ! 

O weep for those that weep for thee ; 
For there is nought on earth below 
Like mingling tears of sympathy. 
For drooping hearts of care and wo : 
The flowers of pleasure rise again. 
Like blossoms wet with summer rain; 
And hope returus to light the eye, 
Like sunshine when the clouds go by." 
But Hale, poor Hale no hope's for thee, 
No helping hand's in sympathy. 
Die thou must, help, it can't extend. 
Die manly, firm, Columbia's patriot friend. 



116 * LIFE OF 

" I do. Death. This expression upon the part oi 
this thrice noble son, betrayed no sacrifice of principle 
or honor. Where are they that love their country and 
the memory of the martyred spirits of my country's ex 
alted glory, who will dare to attaint his memory b} 
making him to suffer loss in contrast with Andre — tha 
shall dare to attaint his memory by saying that his con- 
duct savored, on this occasion, of cowardice? Whc 
are they? They that are in possession of tory princi- 
ples now, as they were then. 

"What can we find in Major Andre to admire — to 
cherish, that we cannot find in Captain Hale? He pos- 
sessed a soul as sincere as it was guileless, and as fear- 
less and undaunted as it was guileless, honorable anc 
free. If Andre's erect and manly form drew forth the 
admiration and love of the gentler sex, who think youj 
reader, was the manliness, beauty and stately steppingj;: 
of a noble Hale to be compared with, or by whom was 
his magnanimity, courage, honor, qualifications anc 
handsome personal mien as a citizen soldier to be mea^ 
sured? Hale! for whose lifeless body the young, love 
ly and loving Sarah Easton could and did risk her life 
to recover, that that body might be restored to friend^ 
and be buried near the homestead of his parents. 

There stood the bold youth with bosom bare. 

His noble life suspended oa a hair, 

If brave in life, he was brave in DEATH, 

And on scaffold yielded bravely his PATRIOTIC breath. 

" A Mary in the hours of darkness before the day hac 
yet dawned was found at the sepulchre of Jesus hei 
Lord and Master, in search of the body of that awfullj 
butchered Master and immaculate God Divine. — 
"Woman, why weepest thou." " Because they have 
taken away my lord, and I know not where they have 
laid him." Her eyes were holden that she knew hin 
not. She therefore said unto a risen Redeemer, when 
he appeared unto her at the sepulchre, " Sir, if thoi 
have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laic 
him, and I will take him away." ' 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 217 

Most exalted of all exalted earthly affections! A 
holy, loving Mary, at a sepulchre in search of the body 
of a crucified God, and alone in her search whilst the 
earth was yet completely wrapped in the sombre shades 
of night. This at a time, too, when the stoutest hearts 
had stood appalled with the most awfully alarming fears. 
But the day previous the sun had been darkened, and 
thick darkness had veiled the earth, and the sacred veil 
of the Temple had been rent in twain. But the day be- 
fore earth had shook to its centre in its having endured 
the convulsive throbs of a mighty earthquake, and the 
graves had opened and many of the sleeping dead were 
called forth to ask, why nature thus " trembled, to the 
throne of" the Most High God? 

Fearless Woman ! Unchangeable Daughter of Faith 
and Faithfulness. Admirable Mary. Wonderful pre- 
cedent of profound courage, sublime, high-souled and 
Heaven-born affection of loveliest resplendency. 

That the noble of the gentler sex still retains a nature 
susceptible of this high order of affection of Heavenly 
purity — this courageousness of spirit in the dark hours 
of solemn and high duty and sore trial, wdien their path- 
w'ays are beset with dangers upon every side, the fol- 
lowing statement* in a note is offered, as an incontro- 
vertible evidence. — Hannah Glory of Columbia. 



* The young, beautiful, accomplished and courageous Sarah Easton, the 
betrothed of Caplaiii Hale, visited the British encampment of Gen. Howe 
«nder the protection of an American flag, denominated afla^ of truce, for 
the purpose of procuring the dead body of Captain Hale, which had been 
buried three days. Womanly and with woman's true fortitude did she 
meet the gibes and sneers of the British officers, and requested of Gen. 
Howe in person, " the body of Nathaniel Hale forchristian burial." Howe 
rejected her petition, and informed her that her request could not be grant- 
ed. A young, but magnanimous British officer who had been ordered by 
Howe to conduct her to the boat in which she had came, (to his eternal 
praise be it spoken) whispered to her at the moment of their parting at the 
shore, and at the same time pointing to a cove, bade her come there at the 
hour of midnight on the coming night, promising her to deliver the body 
I to her. She did so, accompanied by the grey-headed father of Captain 
^'Hale, and procured the body and conveyed it to the home of that father for 
I'proper interment. Admirable daughter! A daughter who has since had 
a parallel of fidelity and faithfulness of affection, in the person of Sarah 
Curran (daughter of the Irish Barrister) the betrothed of the illustrious 
and patriotic, but butchered Robert Emmett, who was hanged for treason 
at Dublin in Ireland. 

19 



218 LIFE OF 

Hark ! hark ! sweet Sarah, the loud clarioa »ouu(l«^ 

' 'Tis honor calls me to war , 
Now love I leave, perhaps for wounds. 

And beauty for a scar. 

But, ah ! suppress those rising sighs. 

Ah ! check those fast falling tears : 
Lest soft distress from lovely eyes 

Creates forbidden new-born fears. 

My life to fame devoted was. 

Before my fear I knew. 
And if I now desert her cause,, 

Shall I be worthy 3'^ou. 

It is not fame alone invites. 

Though fame this bosom warms ; 
My country's violated rights. 

Impel me on to arms.' 

Weep not then dear girl, if I leave thee behind. 
My love in life — in death shall ever endure. 

Though beauty will fade, yet the charms of thy mind. 
From Falsehood my heart will dear Sarah secure. 

If fall I shall, my loveliest one. 

For the task has no fears for me. 
Forget me not, dearest, when I am gone: 

If I fall, then know — Hale died for the free. 

/. S. Hanna. 

" Cold and unhonored he lies, whilst richly deserving 
of a country's praise, gratitude, honor and monument. 
Noble son ! The conduct of thy betrothed — thy affec- 
tionate Sarah, has constituted the brightest and highest 
monument that earth can erect and consecrate to thy 
memory and thy worth. The proudest, most brilliant 
and lofty monument! A monument of the sacred and 
devoted affections of a Sarah's most faithful heart." 
Hannahs Glory of Columbia. 

Oh ! sound loud his name that sleeps in the shade, 
* Where cold and uuhonor'd ht» relics are laid : 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 2l9 

Sad, silent and dark, be the tears that we shed. 

As the night-dew that falls on the grass o'er his head. 

But the dew-drop that falls, tho' in silence it weeps. 
Shall brighten witii verdure the grave where he sleeps; 
And the tear that we shed, tho* in secret it rolls, 
Shall long keep his memory green in our souls.' 

Could no sacrifice, love, be found but in thee, 
Hard, hard was the lot, but oh ! fault not the decree. 
If Heaven ordained it, we're resigned to God'a will. 
We mourn thee, loved one^ and shall mourn thee still. 

Oh ! Nathaniel beloved, what more can I say, 

Could my sorrying heart's effusions repay 

Thy fondness in love, both rich and sincere. 

Thou bestowed on thy Sarah, who weeps o'er thy bier. 

/. S, Hanna. 

Great interest was manifested by many of the Ameri- 
can citizens in Andre's case. Exertions were made in 
his behalf with Washington, and great threats and offers 
were made by Sir Henry Clinton, a commanding Gen- 
eral in the British army, to whom Andre was particular- 
ly dear. Even Arnold possessed impudence and insult 
sufficient to address communications to the American 
head-quarters in his behalf, (these, however, were not 
replied to,) attempting to point out the duty of the com- 
mander-in-chief and his brother officers in the Ameri- 
can army, with regard to Andre. The threats of Clin- 
ton possessed no weight. General Washington and his 
brother officers possessed too great a sense of the de- 
mands of justice, the undying interests, love and glory 
of their country, to suffer either pursuasion or threats 
from any quarter to swerve them from the great duty 
they owed to their country, posterity and posterity's 
Almighty God, the God of battles and KING of PEACE. 

General Washington no doubt would have been in- 
duced to have saved or spared the life of Andre, had 
Arnold been captured or given up. Andre was tried, 
convicted and condemned to death as a spy. He de- 



220 ♦ LIFE OF 

sired a soldier's death — to be shot, but this could not be 
granted to him. He was at length ordered out for execu- 
tion. It was a very solemn lime. I (with other Fifers) 
was notified by my Fife Major (Alexander McKinley) 
to be in readiness to play the Dead March. On the day 
of his execution, the whole of the army at West Point 
were put in motion, and marched arms in hand to the j 
gallows, where they were formed into a great circle at 
some distance around it. We (musicians) were then^ 
attached to the provo guard and marched off to the provo 
gaard-house, where the guard received the prisonen 
(Andre) and conducted him within the circle and to the; 
foot of the gallows, we playing the dead march all the: 
way from the provo guard-house to the gallows. | 

After he arrived at the gallows, a considerable time ij 
lapsed before his execution took place. This time i 
was spent in conversing with the American officers. — \ 
The officers sympathized greatly with him, and great l| 
sorrow pervaded the whole army. Officers and privates ' 
were to be seen shedding tears. One great regret was 
manifested by all^ this, that one so brave, frank and 
honorable should have been sacrifiiced through the per- 
fidy of Arnold. At length the fatal moment arrived, 
and he ascended the ladder. He was resigned to his 
fate, but not to the mode, but intimated that it would 
be but a momentary pang. He was then asked by the ; 
officers if he had any thing more to say. He answered 
''Nothing, except to say that he was very sorry for the I 
ladies of England, for that they would all be in mourn- 
ing for him, after the news of his melancholy exit would 
reach them ; nothing, but to request that you will wit- 
ness to the world that I die a brave man." He was at 
this moment standing up, upon the ladder. All things 
being then in readiness, the signal was given, the ladder 
was turned over from under him, and Andre was launched 
into an eternal world, there to endure an untried reality, 
and to receive the sentence of condemnation or the award 
of life everlasting at the hands of that Supreme God, who 
is commander-in-chief in the countless armies of Heaven 
and amongst the inhabitants of the whole earth. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEE3. 



2-31 




III 


li!i 1 




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! III! 




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I'tit 


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1 



19^ 



2ii2 'LIFE OF 

"General Lee laid before General Washington a plan' 
for the recovery of Arnold. Washington was highly 
pleased with the ingenuity which Lee exhibited in it. — 
The plan was to get an American soldier well tried and. 
true, to desert to the British, and through the instrumen- 
tality of accomplices, to capture Arnold and bear him oB 
to the American lines. Lee chose out a sergeant of the 
name of Champe possessing experience and daring cour- 
age, to whom he made known his design. Sergeant 
Champe, immediately made known his conscientious; 
scruples entertained with regard to his taking an oathl 
of allegiance to the British crowm. General Washing- 
ton and Lee satisfied him that he could not in his en- 
deavors to succour his country in the days of her extreraef 
peril be charged with criminality in that transaction. 

Champe at the time appointed, mounted upon a fleet} 
horse deserted and directed his course towards New-Yorkl;| 
then in possession of the British. General Lee was inform- 1 
ed by a number of soldiers of Champe's desertion, and for | 
the purpose of giving him lime to get beyond the reachtj 
of pursuit, delayed giving an order for his capture until 
he believed that delay would betray himself, or causetlj 
him to be suspected of having some agency in further-ij 
ing Champe's design of desertion. 

General Lee at length with a reluctance known to none 
but himself, gave orders that Champe should be captur- 
ed and brought back, dead or alive. 

The pursuers of Champe gained upon him in his flight, 
and he finding that he was likely to be taken, dismount- 
ed his horse and leaving him behind, plunged into the 
river and swam for the British shipping. The British 
beholding the chase, and perceiving Champe swimming 
towards the shipping lowered a boat, picked him up and 
conveyed him on board. Champe went on to New- 
York and enlisted in the division of the British army 
over which Arnold had the command. 

Generals Washington and Lee were very happy at 
learning from Champe's pursuers his good fortune in 
escaping to the vessels, and at that intelligence their 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 223 

hopes of noble Champe's ultimate success were very much 
brightened indeed. 

Chanape upon enlisting in the British service in New- 
York, immediately set him about executing his bold de- 
sign. Arnold's nightly habit was to walk in the garden 
attached to his quarters. Champe removed'several of 
the palings from off the garden fence, and replaced them 
again in such a manner as that he could displace them 
at pleasure. His design as he formed it upon his arri- 
val at New- York was, to calch Arnold and gag him at 
once, and through the aid of his friend, to thrust him 
through the fence, and one under each arm convey him 
past the guard Stiying that he was a drunken grunting sol- 
dier whom they were conveying to his quarters, then to 
hurry him along to the river where a boat would be in rea- 
diness to convey him to the opposite shore, where Gen- 
eral Lee was to be in waiting with horses convey 
them to the American camp. But faithful and noble 
Champe was to be doomed to a disappointment, and 
that at a moment too, when his patriotic bosom was 
swelled with brightest hopes of a certain success. 

Champe had found means to inform General Lee of 
his plans of operation, and requested Lee to be in wait- 
ing (upon a certain night) with horses at a designated 
spot, opposite New- York. 

On the day preceding the night appointed, Arnold's 
division with himself, was ordered to change quarters 
and were removed to another part of the city, which was 
altogether destructive of Champe's design. 

Lee and his attendants repaired to the spot pointed 
out by Champe, and waited until the dawn of day, but 
no Champe. The sorrow of Generals Washington and 
Lee was inexpressible, as both believed that poor Champe 
had been immolated upon the sacred altars of his coun- 
try, and his high and noble duty in his first attempt, nor 
were they aware that any thing else was the case until 
years had rolled away. 

Champe had been a well beloved in camp, and none 
of his companions or those of the army that had known 



224 'life of 

him previous to his desertion, ever doubted of his patri- 
otism for a moment. His sudden departure for the Bri- 
tish was a confounding mystery to them, and many a 
meaning curse was heaped upon his absent head, for 
his seeming treachery to, and sacrifice of his country. 

It appears that when Arnold and his division were or- 
dered and carried to the Southeren States, Champe was 
in no way able to extricate himself from his unhappy 
situation and was carried along, and had to endure a 
painful servitude of nearly three years, ere he was able 
to join the American armies. As soon as he was able 
to get out of the British army he travelled a considera- 
ble distance, and reported himself to the Commander- 
in-Chief and to General Lee, and expressed his desire 
and determination to again join his own regiment. The 
Commander-in-Chief and Lee were overjoyed indeed 
when they had it in their power to take the hand of a 
bold and country-loving Champe, whom they had never 
expected to see. If the American soldiers had loved 
Champe before his desertion, their love towards him 
was unbounded when informed by Generals Washington 
and Lee of his patriotic and thrice nobly daring conduct. 

Washington and Lee would have been happy to have 
had this noble son in the army with them again, but 
were unwilling to put him in a situation of such immi' 
nent danger, for had he again joined the American army 
and been captured by the British afterwards, would have 
been hung up as a dog. They could not think of such a 
fate for a patriotic and faithful Champe. They advised him 
to withdraw from the American army. Champe did so, 
and went into the interior of the country where he set- 
tled. He did not however live very long after, which 
had he done, no doubt remains, but that the Command- 
er-in-Chief would have had a governmental provision 
made, and liberally for him. vSorae years after his in- 
terview with Washington and Lee, Washington made J 
inquiry for Champe with the view no doubt of reward- 
ing him for his faithfulness and fidelity to his country, 
but to his sorrow learned that Champe had been dead 
some time." — Hanna's Glory of Columbia. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



225 



"To the sages who spoke — to the heroes who bled — 

To the dark days and noble deeds — strike the harpstrings of glory. 

Let the son»of the ransom'd remember the dead. 

And the tongue of the eloquent hallow the story. 

O'er the bones of the bold. 

Be that story long told. 
And on Fame's golden tablets their triumphs enroU'd, 
Who on Freedom's green hills, Freedom's banner unfurl'd. 
And the beacon- fire rais'd that gave light to the world. 

'Twas for us and our children, to conquer or die, 

Undaunted they stood, where the war-storm burst o'er them ; 

Each blade drew a thunderbolt down from ihe sky. 

Till the foeman turn'd pale, and was wither'd before them. 

Then from Liberty's band 

Went a shout through the land, 
As the rainbow of peace their fair heritage spann'd; 
Where the banner of Freedom in pride was unfurl'd. 
And the beacon-fire rose that gave light to the world. 

They are gone — mighty men ' and they sleep in their fame. 
Shall we ever forget them? Oh, never! no, never ! — 
Let our sons learn from us to embalm each great name, 
And the anthem send down ".Independence forever.*' 

Wake, wake, heart and tongue ! 

Keep the theme ever young — 
Let their deeds thro' the long line of ages be sung, 
Who on Freedom's green hills. Freedom's banner unfurl'd 
And the beacon-fire rais'd that gave light to the world." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Sometime after the execution of Major Andre, I was 
igain ordered by Colonel Humpton to Van Zandt's. — 
lere was the last place and last time I recollect of see- 
ng Miss Elizabeth, the Colonel's Niece. 

From Van Zandt's, I was transferred by the orders of 
he Colonel to Princeton, where I remained until about 
he close of the year 1750. 



226 LIFE OF 

When the mutiny took- place in the Pennsylvania and 
Jersey lines, although (and as will shortly appear,) I 
was not of the mutiny party, I claimed a discharge at the 
hands of Colonel Humpton. I thirsted for a more noble 
theatre of action in times of high and heaven-approbat-j 
ed duty than that of truckling at the heels of, and to the; 
will and mandate of a woman. This, I state with due 
deference to the sex, and I think 1 will be considered as 
doing so in all sincerity when my readers are informed, 
(as I intend they shall be,) that I have been many years 
blessed with the presence and companionship of the 
fourth woman with whom I have lived in the capacity of 
husband, for I have had four wives. 

I had been disappointed in being in many enterprises, 
skirmishes and battles in which my whole soul was en^ 
listed, and once patriotically fired thus, it was gall to me 
when I was not suffered to participate in the conquests 
and the glories pertaining to them. When I claimed a 
discharge of Colonel Humpton, it was not for the pur- 
pose of getting out of the army, and abandoning that 
post it w^as glory to me to fill. No ! But it was in or- 
der that I might get properly into the army and follow 
its destinies. Notwithstanding I was left by the Colonel 
with his niece, I was at many military posts. With hen 
I fared very well, I had enough to eat and was better 
provided for in this respect and for cloathes than I was 
when in the camp, but a soldier's glory was my delight, 
even with the pinchings of hunger as its ac-companiment. 

When I claimed a discharge of Colonel Humpton at 
Princeton, he refused to grant me one, but gave me a 
furlough to go on to Philadelphia. He had drawn all 
my pay, a part of which he paid me when he gave me 
a furlough. This how^ever he refused to do too, until I| 
declared in a peremptory manner that 1 would leave him.| 
The Colonel (I may state) had always treated me veryj 
well. But in this instance, I believed I had cause toj 
complain, for he had promised me my discharge. This' 
promise he had made to me before the soldiers had gone,| 
but after they had departed he refused it, saying, that I 



, CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 227 

was better in the army than out of it. Had I obtained 
my discharge, I could and in all probability would have 
done as thousands did — enlist again. 

At the instance of Major Greer, after my arrival at 
Philadelphia I joined (I believe) the lOlh Regiment. — 
Major Greer having tendered me an invitation lo come 
I and live with him in the capacity of a waiter, and 1 being 
i destitute of friends and having but a small sum of money 
in my possession I readily accepted it, and commenced 
at once the labours incident to my new department. In 
a few days after attaching myself to him, we rode up to 
Carlisle, Pa., where the Major was in attendance at all 
balls given in Carlisle, Shippensburg, Chambersburg 
and at other places. I was favored with (as I and others 
considered) the best horse, and enjoyed myself very 
well. The Major would attend a ball in Chambersburg 
on one evening ; ride back to Carlisle on the next day, 
and be in attendance at another on that evening in Car- 
lisle. 

I was always in the habit of carrying different kinds 
of liquor at his instance to the room on these occasions^ 
and always had an opportunity of taking my toll, interest 
or freiglit-pay before starting with my loads. Apple 
toddy was a great drink in those days, and I was no 
way backward in tasting as much as I considered ne- 
cessary, or it pleased me to drink, my will in this matter 
was my only sovereign. 

From Carlisle we were ordered on to Lebanon to join 
our Regiment. Here I was regularly attached to the 
regiment in the capacity of lifer. Major Greer compli- 
mented and commended me highly upon my performing 
so well, and when we drew our clothing he carried out his 
preference for me in his action, for whilst ihe rest of the 
young musicians drew^ their coats of coarse, red cloth, he 
drew for me a lifer's scarlet coloured fine cloth coat. 

I was not in the capacity of waiter to Major Greer 
whilst in Lebanon, except when he went upon fishing 
excursions, then he was sure to call for me and press roe 
into his service. 



228 • LIFE OF 

Whilst we lay at Lebanon, a circumstance transpirei 
worthy of notice, and which I here record as a prelud 
to the horridly great tragical event, of which the indivi 
dual now bearing a part w^as one of the number that wa; 
made to suffer the awful penalty annexed to their crimes 
if crimes they may be said to have committed. A Ser 
geant who was known by the appellation of Macarone;' 
Jack, a very intelligent, active, neat and clever fello\| 
had committed some trivial offence. He had his wif 
with him in camp who always kept him very clean and 
neat in his appearance, she was washerwoman to 
number of soldiers, myself among the number. She was 
a very well behaved and good conditioned woman. ' 

The officers for the purpose of making an impression 
upon him and to better his conduct, ordered him to bi 
brought from the guard-house, which done, he was tieo 
up and the drummers ordered to give him a certain numb, 
er of lashes upon his bare back. The intention of tht| 
officers was not to chastise him. • j 

When he was tied up he looked around and addressee' 
the soldiers, exclaiming at the same time, " dearbrothe; 
soldiers w^ont you help me." This in the eyes of the 
officers savored of mutiny and they called out, ''take him 
down," " take him down." The order was instantH 
obeyed and he was taken back to the guard-house agaii 
and hand-cuffed. At this time there were two deserters 
confined with him. On the next or second day afte? 
this we were ordered on to York, Pa., where upon ou| 
arrival we encamped upon the common below the town' 
Upon our arrival, our three prisoners were confined ir 
York jail. In a few days after we arrived at York, i 
soldier of the name of Jack Smith, and another soldiei- 
whose name I do not now remember, were engaged ir 
playing long hullets. Whilst thus engaged some of th(' 
officers were w^alking along the road, where they wer(' 
throwing the bullets. The bullets passing near to th(i 
officers they used very harsh language to Smith and his 
comrade, who immediately retorted by using the samt* 
kind of indecorous language. A file of men was imme-' 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 229 

liately despatched with orders to take Smith and his 
:omrade under guard and march them off to York jail. 

In three or four days after these arrests were made, a 
Sergeant 'f the name of Lilly, who was also a very fine 
3llow and an excellent scholar, so much so, that much 
f the regimental WTiting fell to his lot to do, and for 
irhich he received a remuneration in some way. This 
sergeant having became intoxicated had quarrelled 
nth one or more of his messmates, and upon some of 
he officers coming around to eTiquire w^hat the matter 
^as, found him out of his tent. The officers scolded 
im and bade him to go into his quarters. Lilly hav- 
ig been much in favor and knowing his own abilities 
nd the services rendered, was (although intoxicated) 
ery much wounded, and could not bear to be thus 
arshly dealt with and used language of an unbecoming 
ind to his superior officers. The officers immediately 
rdered him to be taken to York jail. 

On the next day in the morning we beat up the troop, 
ifter roll call we were ordered to beat up the troop again. 
?he whole line was again formed, and I think the or- 
ers were, for every soldier to appear in line with his 
:napsack on his back, I suppose that at this time there 
7ere parts of three regiments, in all 800 or 1000 men 
aying at York, -the w^hole of which was commanded by 
Colonel Butler. The whole body (sentinels, invalids, 
LC. excepted,) when formed w^ere marched to the dist- 
nce of about half a mile from the camp, and there made 
stand under arms. Twenty men were then ordered 
ut of the line and formed into marching order and all 
he musicians placed at their head. After remaining a 
hort time in a marching posture, the order of forward 
V3iS given. We were then marched direct to the jail 
loor. The prisoners six in number were then brought 
•ut and their sentence (which was death) was read to 
hem. 

At this time it was thought, that none in the line save 
he officers knew for what the provo-guard was detach- 
d, but it appeared afterwards that previous to the firing' 
20 



230 .' LIFE OF 

which was the means of launching four out of the six: 
into eternity, the matter of rescuing them was whisper- 
ed among the soldiers, but they did not concert mea- 
sures in time, to prevent the awful catastrophe which 
they meditated, by an act of insubordination upon their 
part. 

After the sentence of death was read to the condemn- | 
ed soldiers at the jail door, we then marched them out 
and down below town, playing the " dead march" in 
front of them. We continued our march full half a mile 
and halted on a piece of ground (common) adjoining a 
field of rye, which was then in blossom, 'i'his was 
sometime in the early part of June 1781. After a halt 
was made, the prisoners were ordered to kneel down 
with their backs to the rye-field fence. Their eyes w^ere 
then bandaged or covered over wdth silk handkerchiefs. 
The officer in command then divided his force of 20 
men into two platoons. The whole was then ordered to 
load their pieces. This done, 10 were ordered to ad- 
vance, and at the signal given by the officer (which was 
the wave of his pocket handkerchief,) the first platoon of 
10 fired at one of the six. Macaroney Jack was the 
first shot at, and was instantly killed. The first platoon 
was then ordered to retire and reload, and the second 
platoon of 10 ordered to advance. When the signal was 
again given. Smith shared the same fate, but with an 
awfulness, that would have made even devils to have 
shrunk back and stood appalled. His head was liter- 
ally blown in fragments from off his body. The second 
platoon was then ordered to retire and reload, whilst the 
first was ordered to advance and at the same signal fired 
at the third man. The second platoon then advanced 
and fired to order, at Sergeant Lilly, whose brave and 
noble soul was instantly on the wing to the presence of 
that Supreme Judge, who has pledged himself that he 
will do that which is right. The arms of each had been 
tied above their elbows with the cords passing behind 
their backs. Being tied thus, enabled them to have the 
use of their hands, I ventured near and noticed, that, 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 231 

Macaroney Jack had his hands clasped together in front 
of his breast, and had both of his thumbs shot off. The 
distance that the platoons stood from them at the time 
they fired, could not have been more than ten feet. So 
near did they stand, that the handkerchiefs covering the 
eyes of some of them that were shot v/ere set on fire. — 
The fence and even the heads of rye for some distance 
within the field were covered over with blood and brains. 
After four were shot, we (musicians) with a portion of 
the twenty men were ordered to march and were then 
conducted up to the main line of the army. After our 
arrival there, the whole line was thrown into marching 
order and led to this horrid scene of bloody death. — 
When the troops advanced near to the spot they display- 
ed off into'double file and were then marched very near 
to the dead bodies, as also to those still on their knees 
waiting the awful death that they had every reason to 
believe, still awaited them. The order was for every 
man to look upon the bodies as he passed, and in or- 
der that the soldiers in the line might behold them more 
distinctly in passing, they were ordered to countermarch 
after they had passed and then marched as close to them 
upon their return. 

The two deserters that were still in a kneeling posture 
were reprieved, the bandages taken from their eyes, then 
untied, and restored to their respective companies. 

A number of men were ordered out to dig a large 
grave. The bodies of the four dead soldiers were then 
wrapped up in their blankets and buried together therein. 
This last sad duty performed, the soldiers were all 
marched back to their quarters in camp. 

My readers may imagine to what a pitch this sad 
scene was heightened in sorrow when I state, that, on 
our way from the jail to the place of execution, those 
sentenced, were crying, pleading and praying aloud, 
women weeping and sobbing over the unhappy fate of 
the doomed to death, and the wife of Macaroney Jack 
screaming and almost distracted. On the way she at- 
tempted to run into the line, or provo guard, to where 



232 • LIFE OF 

her husband was walking, but was hindered by an offi-i*^ 
cer who felled her to the ground with his sword, he hav-i"? 
ing struck her with the side of it. P 

The execution of these men by Colonel Butler and hisW 
officers, was undoubtedly brought about by a love oif^ 
liberty — the good of country, and the necessity of keep-F 
ing a proper subordination in the army, in order to en-r 
sure that good ultimately. Mutiny had shewn itself at}^'' 
many of the military posts within the United States. — |j 
The conduct of the Pennsylvania and Jersey lines in thei 
revolt at Morristown in Jersey had occurred but the yean 
before, and fresh in the memory of all having knowledge: 
of the operations of the army. Still, the destruction of 
these men seemed like a wanton destruction of human 
life. The soldiers at York were afraid to say or to do 
any thing, for so trivial appeared the offences of these 
men that were shot, that they knew not what in the fu- 
ture was to be made to constitute crime. I recollect for 
myself, that for some considerable time after this, if II 
found myself meeting an officer when out of camp, I 
would avoid coming in contact with him if I possibly 
could do so by slipping a short distance to one side, not 
that I was afraid of an officer more than of a private, 
whilst I done my duty, but fearing lest they might con- 
strue my conduct in some way or other into an offence. 

All disposition of mutiny was entirely put down by 
these steps of cruelty. There were (no doubt) many 
times during the Revolution that such executions were 
called for and highly necessary, and perhaps there was 
an evidence as well as a conviction before the minds of 
the officers composing the Court Martial in their case, 
that we know not of, and that demanded the punish- 
ment of death, but to state in a word, it was a mournful 
day among the soldiers, and hard and stony indeed, 
were the hearts that were not deeply affected in witness- 
ing this distressing execution of their fellow-soldiers. 

In the course of a few days after this melancholy oc- 
currence. Colonel Butler received orders to join General 
Washington somewhere towards the South, but I think 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 233 

t was in the vicinity of Yorktown, Virginia. When the 
aain body moved on, I with five or six Drummers and 
ifers with some invalids and raw recruits, were left at 
fork. I was billetfed at a public house near to the Court 
f louse, which was kept by one Zeigler. I drew my 
ations and handed them to the family. I lived here (I 
nay state) at home, for I ate at the table with the family, 
md was treated as one of the family. Having nothing 
do as duty, except to practise some in playing the 
J'ife, I done many little jobs of work for the family. I 
•emained at York until sometime in January, 1782, when 
Drders were received for us to march on to Lancaster, 
?a. In obedience thereto, we set out on the march im- 
nediately. Our detachment consisted of a Sergeant, 
:en or a dozen of privates, Fife Major, Drum Major, and 
live or six musicians other than myself. When we ar- 
ived at the Susquehanna river opposite to where Colum- 
bia now stands, we found the river full of drifting ice, 
and were compelled to remain on the York side of the 
river until next morning. We billetted at the old Ferry 
tavern house. It was a very cold and keen freezing 
night, so much so, that against morning the river was 
shut, and we were enabled to cross it upon the ice. — 
Each man carried a long pole in his hand, and all gain- 
ed the Lancaster side of the river in safety. 

We did not remain very long at Lancaster, being or- 
dered about to different military posts. In the course 
of these changes, I do not recollect anything that trans- 
pired of any great importance until I again returned to 
Carlisle barracks, nor can I recollect at what post I 
separated from Major Greer. Some persons have an 
idea that the post of a Fifer or a Drummer is a very easy 
one. This is altogether an error, and founded on ignor- 
ance. A Fifer or Drummer has to fill the orders issued, 
and he may be detached in time of war in twenty dif- 
ferent directions in a month. When upon the march in 
an expedition against an enemy, a musician occupies a 
more dangerous post than any officer in the detachment, 
save the commander, and when in line of battle his posi- 
20* 



234 ' LIFE OF 

tion is not to be envied. In a word, the whole duty of 
a musician is therefore not only a laborious one, but one 
of the greatest hazard and danger. j 

My memory at one day could have kept, and did keep 
pace with all these movements or changes from place to ' 
place, but not having at any time in my life penned any ! 
thing with the view of publishing a history of my life, 1 
and besides having entered the army when young, it 
cannot be expected that I can be as explicit in my state- 
ments as I might otherwise be at this late day. I have 
been (as before stated) at a very great number of mili- 
tary posts or encampments during the war, the names of 
which, when I hear them, I know very well that I was 
once quite familiar with them and their locations too, , 
but now, their locations, the time of repairing to them 
and the objects for which I was detached to them, are 
like shades, or as imperfect or indistinctly remembered 
dreams, and of course my recollection of such places, 
the times of visiting them, and the objects of those visits 
cannot be other than vague within my mind ; this much, 
however, is established (in my recollection) beyond a .; 
doubt, I have been sent to play detachments ofTto different ' 
places, and again I have been sent to play detachments , 
from recruiting posts and other places into the different j 
encampments where we laid. 

J recollect of marching through Baltimore, and then ; 
to some military post a considerable distance to the 
South, but where I am unable to state now. It must 
have been pretty far South. The place where we were 
encamped was near to a very deep and still-water, and 
it seemed as though there were great freshets there some- 
times, for there had been great quantities of drift-wood, 
such as large trees, logs, limbs and brush sw^ept out 
to the land and heaped up together into huge piles. 

Alligators were very numerous there, and the soldiers 
were forbidden to go into the waters for the purpose of 
bathing and swimming. At night the Alligators would 
lie on the top of the water with their jaws open or rath- 
er wnth their upper jaws laid back towards or resting 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 235 

Upon their backs, and when their mouths or jaws would 
become covered with flies or musquetoes (which abound- 
ed in that place) they would slap their upper jaws down 
upon their lower ones, making at the same time a very 
great noise. This, they would continue to do' during 
the whole night, first one, then another, and often very 
many within hearing all at the same time. 

Crocodiles were talked of also, as infesting those 
waters. Perhaps it was to deter the soldiers from ven- 
turing into the waters, that caused this to be said. I 
was one day strolling along the water's edge, and some- 
thing very large dashed into a great heap of this drift 
of brush and logs. Before I could see its shape, it was 
all in among the rubbish, except about three feet of its 
hinder part, the thickest part of which was fully as thick 
as the thickest part of the thigh of an ordinary sized 
man. At the moment I heard it, I remember very well 
that I thought of Crocodiles, and jumped to one side or 
back, and then made myself " scarce tkere^^ in the short- 
est time possible. I never knew what it was, nor could 
I rightly conjecture. Sometimes I thought it might 
have been a Crocodile, at other times an Alligator, and 
at other times I thought that it might have been a very 
large snake or water serpent of some kind. 

Having returned to Carlisle, a number of us that had 
known each other before, met together at that place. I 
remember of having been told by some of them of a 
melancholy circumstance that had happened sometime 
after Colonel Butler had marched to the South. One of 
the soldiers that belonged to his command, and who was 
quite a young man, had deserted and was flying to the 
British. He was pursued and caught near to the British 
lines. He was brought back, and instead of being 
placed in the provo guard-house as soldiers are (gener- 
ally) that are to be tried for their lives, for those whose 
punishments were not death were generally placed in the 
custody of the camp guards. This deserter was " tried 
by the Drum Head." It was done in this manner gen- 
erally: a circle was formed and the Drum placed upon 



236 LIFE OF 

the ground as a table upon which the writing necessary 
and the sentence were written. This deserter w^as tried 
after this manner, and his sentence was, that he should 
be shot. A certain number of men were ordered out 
with loaded pieces, and he was blind-folded and made 
to kneel down. The signal was given to fire, and eight 
or nine balls penetrated his body, and instead of his 
being killed momentarily by them, as would be expect- 
ed, to the astonishment of all present, he begged (poor 
fellow) that they would but let him live until next morn- 
ing, in order that he might pray for himself. Whilst he 
w^as imploring for this at the hands of the officers, an 
officer stepped up to him with a loaded pistol in his 
hand, and made an end of his cries and sufferings by 
shooting him throucrh the head. The soldiers who had 
witnessed this sad aifliir and from whom I received the 
account, said it was the most revolting spectacle they i 
had ever witnessed during the Revolutionary war. 

I will now inform my readers of the cruel usage meted 
out to many of the soldiers at Carlisle barracks — meted 
out by some of the most cruel of officers that could be 
found any where in the armies of my country. The 
names of these officers I cannot give at this late day, but 
in order to show that those officers differed from the 
generality of the officers in the American service, I now 
state, we had to "^o^" more at the barracks of Carlisle, 
than at any three or four military posts that I was ever 
at during the Revolution. We had to flog more or less 
every evening after roll call. 

Myself and three other musicians (Drummers and 
Fifers) received at one time 12 lashes each upon our 
bared buttocks. The cause of this was as follows: we: 
w^ere engaged one day in washing our clothes at the 
("spring") creek, and they, it must be admitted, were 
very full of /ice, a statement at which many of those in 
the enjoyment of the liberties gained by a patriotic army, 
would ^^now-a- days'''' feel a deal of fastidious squeam- 
ishness at hearing made in their presence. Thank God, 
that the perpetuation of my country's liberties is not 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 237 

dependent upon the exertions of such. If they were, 
where could be found their full flow of an undying pa- 
triotism ? Can blood be extracted from a stone? No ! 
Neither can patriotism be found in the ungrateful bosoms 
of such tory-disposed ^H/migs.''^ It is true, they have 
the shapes of men and women, but the question neces- 
sarily arises; Are they such? Ingratitude is a crying 
sin, and it is often committed by those too, who are to 
be justly styled dandy or tory gentry, possessing often 
a name to live, and are dead — dead to all and every 
manly, womanly and honorable emotion and principle 
of heart. 

As I have stated, when we were engaged in washing 
our clothes at the "spring," a soldier came and began 
to abuse one of our Fifers. We ran to the support of 
our comrade, and gave the fellow a kind of a "rough- 
and-tumble" flogging, and tumbled him down into a 
ditch which was near by, and put one of his knees out 
of joint. Apart from this we did him no great injury 
otherwise. We daubed his face over with soap or white 
clay, and rolled him about a little. It was rough treat- 
ment it is true, but we did not meditate to injure him 
materially. 

The next day as we were outside the camp, practising 
in playing the Fife and beating the Drum, we beheld 
pur Fife Major and the Adjutant of the regiment coming 
towards us. Noticing that the Fife Major had some- 
thing under his coat, I began to ^^ smell a rat,^^ as did 
also others of our company. It was not long until I 
found that my apprehensions were (feelingly) correct. 
We were all called up and our sentence read to us, 
which was, that we were to whip one another, and I was 
the first ordered to strip and prepare to ride a sort of a 
jockey race. A large Drummer was ordered to take my 
two hands and arn>s over his shoulder and hoist me up 
upon his back. He did so, and the cat-o'-nine-tails 
handed to another, who was ordered to give me twelve 
lashes. I thought when I had theory alone as my guide, 
the receipt of twelve lashes would be nothing — the 



238 * LIFE OF 

veriest trifle, but when theory was reduced to practice 
and I the object by which it was to be tested, I founc 
out that it was a serious matter. When I w^as made ti 
take the first lesson or rather to receive the first cut, 
thought it could not be less severe than the receipt oi 
boiling lead would have been upon the part affected, and 
I began to kick and sprawl like a cat, and to bawl ou 
lustily. I threw the big Drummer off his feet an( 
"broke for the mountains," running for life. The of 
ficers called out aloud "comeback," "come back.' 
I yielded and came back, but it w^as because I could no 
do otherwise. I returned begging for quarters all the 
way, but begging was in vain. The big fellow should 
ered me again, but if he did, I threw him a second timei 
and broke away again. They caught me and mountec 
me upon my stumbling charger a third time, and gav^ 
me my allowance of twelve lashes and three in additioi 
to make the count good and for my kicking against m\ 
judges, executioners and the cat-o'-nine-tails. Anothe 
was then hoisted, (it was the one that whipped me) am 
as I had received more than I wanted, I had no idea o^ 
receiving the Major's rattan upon my back for remisS' 
ness in duly,^ I am fully pursuaded that I gave him 1' 
lashes as hard as he gave to me. The two others hac 
to lash each other as my comrade and myself had done 
This was law, and we had to abide by the decisions o 
that law, and call it justice and equity, or at least w^e had 
to be satisfied therewith. 

Our officers had a whipping post erected on the centn 
of the parade ground. Near to the foot of the post { 
wooden peg was drove into the ground, the top of whicl 
stuck out of the ground about ten or twelve inches, anc 
was as sharp as the tip of a persons middle finger. — \ 
Sometimes the soldiers, after being flogged, were mad( 
to stand on the tip or point of this peg ten or fifteei 
minutes each, with one foot, and it bare ; the other foo 
raised up and held in one hand, whilst the other banc 
would be tied up to the whippingpost. This was call- 
ed "picketing." They had also a large face and hollow 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL BEWEES. 239 

lead made, upon which they fixed a large pair of horns, 
which made the head and face (to use the phrase) to 
look like old Nick himself. This head and face was 
lined inside with sheep skin which had the wool on, the 
woolly side of which was out and made to fit or lie 
against the face of the wearer, when it was put on him. 
The woolly side they covered over with grease and lamp* 
olack. They also had a large buffalo skin for a body. 
When a soldier w^ould become intoxicated or commit 
crimes of a more trifling nature, the officers would order 
out the "Buffaloe Daddy," and clap it on him, and girt 
it around him with a rope. This rope they brought 
down and fastened to one foot or leg, and the other end 
was used as his tether, and was about ten or twelve feet 
in length. He would be kept in limbo-mask thus, for 
hours or more. The musicians were required to play 
whilst he was kept moving about to make him sweat, 
touring these fantastic exercises, it was sometimes so 
hot in the sun, that we would be ready almost to faint, 
jbut it was fine fun for the officers lying in the shade — 
fun, yes, and they enjoyed it well. 

After the hour thus occupied would expire, the Buf- 
[faloe Daddy was taken off. The lamp-black and grease 
having by that time fastened themselves completely to 
his sweaty face, they caused him to look like a teaze- 
major* to a congregation of black-smith's shops. The 
moment his mask was pulled off, tremendous loud laugh- 
ing and huzzaing were raised by the soldiers, who would 
assemble to witness this humorous sort of camp fandan- 
go. His appearance, as a matter of course, would have 
justified a priest of Bramin in laughing heartily. After 
this, our duty was to play him several times down and 
up the parade ''ground, in order to show hina off to the 
best advantage to the officers and soldiers occupying the 
barracks. 

We generally carried the laugh and huzza from the 

* Teazer is the name given lo the man employed to keep up the fires (by 
feeding them with coal or wood) in Glass Houses, where glass of all kinds 
is manufactured. 



240 . LIFE OF 

head to the foot, and from the foot to the head of the 
parade ground. 

At one time a Drummer of ours, whose name was 
Robert Mitchell, was in town (Carlisle,) and stole a shirt; 
which belonged to a gentleman of some note in the place. 
Next day a search was made in the barracks, and the 
shirt was found in poor Bob's knapsack. Bob was im- 
mediately conveyed to the guard house. He was tried 
and sentenced to be whipped. In a few days thereafter 
we (musicians) were ordered out to the woods to collect: 
^^hickories^^ — rods 3, 4 and 5 feet in length. Some- 
times we have cut and brought bundles of them on oun 
shoulders tied up like sheaves of wheat. Upon our re- 
turn to camp with our rods, the long roll was beat up, 
and the soldiers, amounting in number to about 500, 
were formed into two rows, leaving a space like a nar- 
row lane between them. The soldiers were all faced 
inwards, that is, facing each other. We then carried 
our bundles along this lane and distributed them, each 
man pulled a rod out of our bundles. Boor Bob then, 
had "^0 strip off to the buff'''' — his coat, vest and shirt, 
and all ready, he had to run the gauntlet. He ran 
down, up and down again, which was three times 
through. Each time, each man struck him once or 
more on his bared back as he passed. The duty of all was 
to strike at him, and hard too, but some herhaps were 
not able to do more than touch him. Supposing 500 
men to give three cuts each, would equal 1500 lashes. 
They cut the poor fellow so severely, that splinters an 
inch long were pulled out of his back with pincers. — ^ 
After the splinters were pulled out, his back was washed 
with salt and water, this was a severe cure, but was of 
great service, notwithstanding its severity in its appli- 
cation. '' '"" ' 

There w^ere many soldiers detected at times in a very 
merciful kind of fraud, that of cutting or nicking their 
rods so that when in the act of striking, they would fall 
back and often to pieces in their hands, and do no inju- 
ry to the runner. Such as were at any time caught at 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 241 

\h\S) or in striking lightly, in order to not hurt the pris- 
oner, were dealt with in a harsh manner, even to the re- 
ceiving of (sometimes) a number of hard lashes them- 
selves. It was highly necessary that a proper subordi- 
nation should be established in every department of the 
array, and should all have refused to obey the orders, as 
to inflicting punishment, no punishment could have been 
inflicted, anil consequently no subordination would have 
existed. That the punishments were more cruel, and 
greater in amount than necessary in many instances, I 
think 1 can safely assert. It v/as thought however, that 
the exigencies within the country demanded it. Very 
many good men sanctioned the course. The good and 
humane Washington himself had to double steel his heart 
sometimes against mercy, and forget tcTbe merciful when 
darkness brooded over the destinies of the country, and 
t-'xarnples had to be made in infliciingthe summary pun- 
ishment of death upon soldiers, who had set military 
law and discipline at naught or defiance. 

Some time after Mitchell received his severe castiga- 
lion, there were two soldiers (brothers) deserted, they 
were taken up and lodged in Carlisle jail. They were 
tried for desertion and condemned to death. Upon the 
day of their execution the troops were formed and march- 
ed out ftilly a mile from the barracks. The dead march 
was played from the time we left the barracks until we 
arrived at the gallows. They were both hung up at the 
same time, one died in about the usual time, but the 
other could not die, and in order to cause death, the sol- 
diers whose duty it was made to hang them, pulled his 
feet and legs until the rope was lengthened, and it 
was thought that the rope would have broken. Still, 
they covxJ not cause him to die. The one already dead, 
they cut down and buried, but they left the other hang- 
ing. A guard was left at the gallows, and we then 
marched back to the barracks. The guard did not re- 
turn until it was near night, in consequence of his not 
having died until it was nearly sun-down. This was 
one of the most painful sights that I ever witnessed. — 
21 



242 • LIFE or 

It was about 10* oclockwhen he was swung off, and hC| 
had hung in a dying state until almost sun-down. 



CHAPTER XV. 

News having arrived at the War Department, that the 
Indians were butchering the inhabitants, up and along 
the Juniata river, and the valley of Qhish-a-quo-quillas,* 
in the more remote interior of Pennsylvania. A detach- 
ment of between three and four hundred men composed 
of the remains of several regiments at Carlisle barrack 
received marching orders. 

To this detachment there were five Fifers and ftve 
Drummers attached, (myself among the former.) Our 
march was what was called a "forced march," we hav- 
ing to march night and day until we entered the " wil- 
derness." After several day's marching through the w 
derness we arrived at a settlement. We halted one 
rainy day at an old waste-house and barn. Here we 
encamped. The day was quite a wet one. We were 
ordered to run or mould bullets and make cartridges* As| 
soon as we had finished this job, we had to commence- 
the march again, although it was raining heavy. Thit: 
the officers were induced to do, in consequence of their 
bavins: received intellio'ence that the Indians were mur- 
dering the whites not very far ahead of us. We had 
both flankers and scouters out, constantly. We at length 
came across the Indians, or rather they came across us. 
Notwithstanding all the precaution used in detaching 
flankers and scouters, the Indians would give us a shot 
(from their ambuscades) and a yell, and then be off un- 
seen like snakes in the grass. They popped off one oJ 
my comrades, "a Drummer, close behind where I was 
marching in front of the detachment. We made a hah 
long enough to bury him, or rather a portion of the de- 
tachment moved on in pursuit whilst this duty was per- 



^Pronounced Kish-ah-ko-qnlllas. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



243 



fbrraing. This done, we closed up again and pursued 
our march in the same regular manner as before. There 
"werelTot any of the Indians killed at the time of their 
attacks upon us that I recollect of. 

After we arrived at the settlements, at the mouth of 
the valley of Qhish-a-quo-quillas, our scouters brought 
in some Indian scalps, and after we had ascended the 
valley some distance and formed our camp on the Qhish- 
a-quo-quillas Creek, our scouting parties came in oc- 
casionally with a few scalps. 

The Indians in the course of a few weeks, finding us 
too strong for them, retreated westward and left the set- 
tlers in the peaceful possessian of that section of the coun- 
try. We laid in the valley, from three to four weeks. 
Our loss at the hands of the enemy was but three men 
killed. Here I raust state, that besides the narrow chance 
I ran when the Drummer was killed near to me upon the 
march, I ran a seemingly narrower chance for my life 
whilst we were encamped in the valley. 

The officers would not allow any of the men to stroll 
to any distance outside of the camp. There were pi- 
quet guards stationed at the out posts, which were estab- 
lished at a short distance from the camp-guards. Be- 
ing very fond of fishing, I would occasionally venture 
out some two or three hundred yards from the camp-line. 
Dividing my fish always with some of the officers made 
me somewhat of a privileged character, and the^^ would 
suffer me to steal out when they would not suffer others 
to do so. They always cautioned me, however, by tel- 
ling me to be upon the alert, and to " break''^ for the 
camp the moment I should hear, or behold any thing 
that might cause me to suspect that Indians were about. 

1 was busily engaged in fishing at the distance of two 
hundred and fifty or three hundred yards above the camp 
in Qhish-a-quo-quillas creek, a stream something in size 
like (as near as I can remember) to the "Yellow Breech- 
es creek, in Cumberland county. Pa. I had caught 
some fish, among them some very handsome mountain 
trout, and fortunately happened to think that I was van- 



244 



I.IFE OF 




CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 245 

during too far, when looking up, I espied a very large 
Indian at some distance from me. At the instant I be- 
held him I dropped my fishing rod, and left ray fish and 
being unarmed, I became very much frightened and 
^''heeled it for life'^ until I reached the camp. 

Being young, strong and active, I soon left him in 
the distance and gained the encampment. There was a 
scouting party despatched immediately, but it returned 
without beholding or capturing him. He thinking per- 
haps as I did, that it was most safe to be off: I being 
unarmed am free to confess, I did not wait to see whether 
he was armed or not. Some of the officers and myself 
went with the scouting party as far as to where I beheld 
him, and then I recovered my fishing tackle and the fish 
I had caught. In our passage thither we found that I 
had leaped over lying trees four and five feet high, 
bounding from twelve to eighteen feet at a bound. In 
proof of this, I observe that after the revolutionary war 
was ended, I have often jumped a stake and ridered 
fence six feet high in harvest times with a sickle in my 
hand, and at a running jump I could clear an t^ighteen 
or twenty foot pole with all ease. This may look full as 
a statement, but it must stand as truth with those ac- 
quainted w4th jumping, when I state that I could at a 
standing jump on a floor, clear a ten foot pole at any 
time, standing with my toes to it at one end, and clear- 
ing it with my heels at the other. When running from 
the Indian I can safely assert that I jumped from two to 
four feet higher, and bounded farther by several feet than 
I ever knew myself to do either before or since. 

It had been the delight of many of the officers at vari- 
ous military posts before this happened, to start me as a 
fox. After I would start off to personate Reynard, 
they would send out a dozen or two other soldiers to per- 
sonate hounds in the chase. I was swift of foot and 
could always elude my pursuers, and could return to 
camp before them and without being caught. I was al- 
ways called the young quaker, owing to ray saying Thee 
and Thou. Oftentimes when the officers wanted me 
21* 



246 . LIFE OF 

to gratify them in bearing a part in fox and hound' 
sport, they would call out *' Quaker," "Quaker;" i 
would answer, what does thee want ? They would then 
sing out " Thee and thou, the quaker's brown cow," (li 
thought it quite a shame to say you to any person, it wasi; 
all thee and thou with me, instead of sir,) we want you 
to be fox, for we have some fast hounds to send out m 
pursuit to day. I knev; I could run fast and was there- 
fore ready generally to turn Reynard. 

Indians are full of stratagem, the point where danger 
may be most apprehended is not the point chosen by 
Indians at which to attack their enemies. They are ex- 
tremely wary as well as ingenuously cunning. During; 
the revolutionary war many were the instances of theiii 
being found lurking near to the piquetsor outposts. In 
some of their designs thus cunningly devised they have 
succeeded ; in many others however, they w^ere com- 
pletely frustrated. 

" In the year 1779, when the war with America was; 
conducted with great spirit upon that continent, a divi- 
sion of the English army was encamped on the banks oil 
a river, and m a position so favored by nature, that iti 
was difficult for any military art to surprise it. War in. 
America was at times in the most wilderness parts, rather^ 
a species of hunting than a regular campaign. " If youi 
fight with art," said Washington to his soldiers ''youi 
are sure to be defeated. Acquire discipline enough for: 
retreat and the uniformity of combined attack, and your 
country will prove ihe best of engineers." So true was 
the maxim of General Washington, "that the English 
soldiers had to contend with little else." In conse- | 
quence of the British having brought hordes of Indians 
to their aid as allies, the Americans with a retaliatory' 
spirit "had incorporated the Indians into their ranks,,; 
and had made them useful in a species of war to which:; 
their habits of life had peculiarly fitted them. They salli- } 
ed out of their impenetrable forests and jungles, and \ 
with their arrows and tomahawks committed daily waste , 
upon the British army,, — surprising their sentinels, cut- 



«t 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 247 

ting off their stragglers, and even when the alarm was 
given and pursuit commenced, they Hed with a swiftness 
that the speed of cavalry could not overtake, into rocks 
and fastnesses whither it was dangerous to pursue them. 
In order to limit as far as possible this species of war, in 
which there was so little honor, it was the custom with 
every regiment to extend its outpost to a great distance 
beyond the encampments ; to station sentinels some 
miles in the woods, and to keep a constant guard around 
the main body. 

A regiment of foot was at this time stationed upon the 
confines of a boundless Savannah. Its particular office 
was to guard every avenue of approach to the main 
body; the sentinels w-hose ^posts penetrated into the 
woods were supplied from its ranks, and the service of 
this regiment was thus more hazardous than that of any 
other. Its loss was likewise great. The sentinels were 
perpetually surprised upon their posts by the Indians, 
and were borne off their station without communicatin<r 
any alarm or being heard of after. Not a trace was left 
of the manner in which they had been conveyed away, 
except that, upon one or two occasions a few drops of 
blood had appeared upon the leaves that covered the 
ground. Many imputed this unaccountable disappear- 
ance to treachery, and suggested as an unanswerable 
argument, that the men thus surprised might at least 
have fired their muskets, and communicated the alarm to 
the contiguous posts. Others who could not be brought 
to rank it as treachery, w^ere content to consider it as a 
mystery which time would unravel. 

One morning, the sentinels having been stationed as 
usual over night, the guard went at sun-rise to relieve a 
post which extended a considerable distance into the 
wood. The sentinel was gone ! The surprise was 
great ; but the circumstance had occurred before. They 
left another man and departed, wishing him better luck. 
** You need not be afraid" said the man wdth warmth, 
" I shall not desert !" The relief company returned to 
the guard-house. The sentinels were replaced every 



248 ^ LIFE Ob 

four hours, and at the appointed time, the guard march 
ed to relieve the post. To their inexpressible astonish- »i 
ment the man was gone ! They searched round the 
spot, but no traces could be found of his disappearance. 
It was now necessary that the station from a strongert 
motive than ever, should not remain unoccupied ; they 
were compelled to leave another man, and returned to 
the guard-house. The superstition of the soldiers was 
aw^akened, and terror ran through the regiment. The 
Colonel being apprized of the occurrence, signified his' 
intention to accompany the guard when they relieved 
the sentinel they had left. At the appointed time, they 
all marched together; and again, to their unutterable 
wonder, they found the post vacant, and the man gone ! 

Under these circumstances, the Colonel hesitated 1' 
w4ielher he should station a whole company on the spot, , 
or wdiether he should again submit the post to a single ; 
sentinel. The course of this repeated disappearance of 
men, whose courage and honesty v/ere never suspected, 
must be discovered ; and it seemed not likely that this 
discovery could be obtained by persisting in the old me- 
thod. Three brave men were now lost to the regiment, 
and to assign the post to a fourth, seemed nothing less 
than giving him up to destruction. The poor fellow 
whose turn it was to take the station, though a man in 
other respects of incomparable resolution, trembled from 
head to foot. "I must do my duty" said he to the of- 
ficer, " I know that ; but I should like to lose my life 
with more credit." " I will leave no man" said the 
Colonel " against his will." 

A man immediately stepped from the ranks, and de- 
sired to take the post. Every mouth commended his 
resolution. " I will not be taken alive" said he " and 
you shall hear of me on the least alarm. At all events I 
will fire my piece if I hear the least noise. If a bird 
chatters, or a leaf falls, you shall hear my musket. Yon 
may be alarmed when nothing is the matter, but you 
must take the chance as the condition of the discovery. 
The Colonel applauded his courage, and told him he 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWBES. 249 

vould be right to fire upon the least noise which was 
iinbiguous. His comrades shook hands with him, and 
eft him with a melancholy foreboding. The company 
aarched back, and awaited the event in the guard-house. 

An hour had elapsed, and every ear was upon the 
ack for the discharge of the musket, when upon a sud- 
len the report was heard. The guard immediately march- 
'd, accompanied as before by the Colonel, and some of 
he most experienced officers of the regiment. As they 
ipproached the post, they saw the man advancing to- 
vards them, dragging another man on the ground by 
he hair of his head. When they came up with him. 
le appeared to be an Indian whom he had shot. An 
explanation w^as immediately required. 

"il told your honor" said the man, '^ I should fire if 
^ heard the least noise. The resolution I had taken has 
laved my life. I had not been long on my post when 
'. heard a rustling at some short distance ; I looked, and 
law an American hog, such as are common in the woods, 
irawling along the ground, and seemingly looking for 
luts under the trees and amongst the leaves. As these 
mimals are so very common, I ceased to consider it for 
;ome minutes ; but being on the constant alarm and 
expectation of attack, and scarcely knowing what was 
.0 be considered a real cause of apprehension, I kept 
ny eyes vigilantly fixed upon it, and marked its progress 
imong the trees : still there was no need to give the 
darm, and my thoughts were directed to danger from 
mother quarter. It struck me, however, as somewhat 
singular, to see this animal making, by a circuitous pas- 
sage, for a thick coppice immediately behind my post. 
[ therefore kept my eye more constantly fixed upon it, 
ind as it was now within a few yards of the coppice, 
[ hesitated whether I should not fire. My comrades, 
;hought I, will laugh at me for alarming them by shoot- 
ng a pig ! I had almost resolved to let it alone, when, 
just as it approached the thicket, T thought I observ- 
ed it give an unusual spring. I no longer hesitated, I 
took my aim ; discharged my piece ; and the animal 



250 ♦ LIFE OF 

was instantly stretched before me, witii a groan which 
I conceived to be that of a human creature. I went up 
to it, and judge my astonishment, when I found I had 
killed an Indian! He had enveloped himself with the 
skin* of one of these wild hogs so artfully and complete- ^ 
ly; his hands and feet were so entirely concealed in it, 
and his gait and appearance were so exactly correspon- 
dent to that of the animal's, that imperfectly as they! 
w^ere always seen through the trees and jungles, the 
disguise could not be penetrated at a distance, and 
scarcely discovered upon the nearest inspection. He: 
was armed with a "dagger" or scalping knife " and.a^ 
tomahawk." 

Such was the substance of this man's relation. The 
cause of the disappearance of the other sentinels was 
now apparent. The Indians, sheltered in this disguise, 
secreted themselves in the coppice ; w^atched the mo-^ 
ment when they could throw it off; burst upon the sen- 
tinels without previous alarm, and, too quick to give 
them an opportunity to discharge their pieces, either 
stabbed or scalped and tomahawked them, and bearing: 
their bodies away, concealed them at some distance in 
the leaves." 

" No being acts more rigidly from rule than the Indian, 
His whole conduct i>s regulated according to some gen-i 
eral maxims early im])lanted in his mind. The moral 
laws that govern him, are, to be sure, but few ; but then, 
he conforms to them all ; — the white man abounds inj 
laws of religion, morals, and manners ; but how many! 
does he violate. No hero of ancient or modern days 
can surpass the Indian in his lofty contempt of death and! 
the fortitude with which he sustains its cruelest affliction. 
Indeed, we here behold him rising seperior to the white 
man, in consequence of his peculiar education. The 
latter rushes to glorious death at the cannon- s mouth;! 



♦The author recollects to have heard when he was a boy, of Indians prac- 
tising the same art on the piquet guards of General Harrison's army near 
fort Meigs. They were enveloped either in bogs or in bear's skins, and 
commilted their destruction in the night, they being armed with bows aiid 
arrows. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 251 

he former calmly contemplates its approach, and trium- 
phantly endures it, amidst the various torments of sur- 
•ounding-ybes and the protracted agonies ofy^re." Thus 
circumstanced, "he raises his last song of glorious tri- 
umph breathing the defiance of an unconqucred heart, 
and invoking the spirits of his fathers to witness that 
he dies without a groan.'''' 

Great care w^as at all times manifested by the oflicers 
of the detachment whilst it laid in Qhish-a-quo-quillas 
valley with regard to the planting of piquet guards, and 
with regard to their hailing whatever might be look- 
ed upon as approaching them, and received strict order, 
also, with regard to their firing thereat, or of sounding 
the alarm. They were alsOj (as I have before stated) 
very strict with the men with regard to their strolling 
outside of the camp or piquet guards in any one direc- 
tion. 

The officers well knew they had a wary and wiley 
foe to contend with or to defend against. 

At another time I ventured to the distance of 300 or 
more yards dow-n the stream and below the camp for the 
purpose of fishing. I had not been long engaged in 
fishing and had just caught a trout, the largest I ever 
saw any where, when all at once a terrible noise issued 
from the top of a high knob of the mountain opposite to 
where I then -was, and before I had properly secured my 
fish, a huge rock which seemed to be about the size of 
an out-door bake-oven came whirling and leaping down 
the precipice in its fearful majesty, riving and smashing 
the trees that stood in its course with tremendous crash- 
ings until it dashed headjong into the. creek below where 
I stood; causing a smoke or vapour to ascend like a 
cloud or fog all around where it entered the stream. — 
Whether it was that it had acquired a heat in conse- 
quence of the great velocity Avith which it descended from 
the top of the high knob of the mountain that caused 
such a cloud of fog or steam I know" not. When I first 
heard it, I thought it best to watch for what was coming. 
As I beheld it coming I waited until I saw it leap into 



262 



LIFE CF 




CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 253 

the water. Then the idea of Indians was more forcibly 
impressed upon my mind. It had been but a few days 
before, that I had encountered one and concluded they 
were not very far from me. With fear upon me on all 
sides and believing myself encircled with dangers I 
•immediately secured my large fish (trout) by putting my 
iingers through its gills and '■Hook to my scrapers ^'^'^ say- 
ing in my own mind (as I bounded away) to the Indians 
in accordance with th-e old Indian saying, " No catchee, 
330 habbee," and soon found myself in camp again. 

I had not ceased running after I entered the camp, 
when I was met by an officer who said to me^ " fifer, 
wdll you let me have that trout," "yes. Sir," was my 
reply; well knowing that being the indulged, I dared not 
to say no. " Well fifer (said he) you are a clever fel- 
low." He then took the fish, and I started towards my 
quarters. " Stop my good fellow, (said he) go and 
fetch your canteen and then come with me to my quart- 
ers." I went and got my canteen and he then took me 
to his marquee and filled my canteen with ^^ good stuff, '^'^ 
which pleased my messmates more than all the fish in 
the creek would have done, for we had not had a drop 
of liquor to drink for the space of two weeks previous. 
A good drink at this time helped us to forget our cares, 
particularly the Indians, that were skulking around us in 
the bushes and among the rocks of the mountains. 

It was the opinion of the officers and men in camp that 
this was a stratagem of the Indians. It was believed 
that the Indians supposed that the rock they sent down 
the mountain side would have dashed through the camp 
below and cut its road by killing all that might be in its 
way. They having supposed (no doubt) that the camp 
was immediately below in a line with the direction which 
they had given to the rock -when they started it in a 
heave, yo heave down the steep sided mountain. Scout- 
ing parties were sent out in several directions, but they 
•eturned without becoming possessed of any intelligence 
•elative to the Indians. 

Here I insert an address delivered at " Camp Warren" 
22 



254 ' LIFE OF 

near Hollidaysburg, in Huntingdon County, Pa. at which 
eighteen companies of Pennsylvania volunteers had as- 
sembled, the whole of which were reviewed on Wed- 
nesday, I8th of October, 1843, by his Excellency David. 
R. Porter, Governor of Pennsylvania. 

The address is full of thrilling incidents and will no 
doubt find acceptance with my readers to interest them, | 
particulary, as they are reminiscences of the early settle- 
meat of that portion of the country in the struggles of 
the whites, with the almost unconquerable savages of the; 
wilderness. 

CAMP WARREN. ; ' 

"There is no spot of land beneath the canopy of Hea- 
ven that may not have its interesting reminiscences, could 
it but tell the scenes it has witnessed from the time the; 
" Lord said let there be Earth and it was made." Some 
events have had their historian, others have had none ; 
it was Homer gave immortality to the siege of Troy- 
without him its story would long since have been for- 
gotten, and left not a wreck behind. That such be not 
the fate of "Camp Warren" we shall use our feeblei 
pencil in recording not the battles lost and won, not thet 
heroes slain or victors crowned, but the memories of 
those who on this (from this day) classic soil, learned in 
Peace, to prepare for War. 

Citizen soldiers, the ground on which you have pitch- 
ed your tents, and from whence you now look forth oni 
the busy scenes of life, was not long since the "abode 
of savage beasts or of men more wild than they." These 
have given place to the onward march of commerce and 
of civilization, which has turned this once howling wil-^ 
derness into a busy mart erow^ded with life and hope. 

On your right lies (land locked) the harbor of Holli- 
daysburgh,in which unanchored ride the navies, not oii 
hostile nations, but of peace loving commerce. In front, 
you there see the master work of modern art, propelled s 
by steam, dragging its lengthened train of cars burthen- 
ed with freighted boats, bounding up the heights of the 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 255 

Alleghanies, over whose cloud cap't summit, the " sons" 
of Noah securely sail their freighted arks, where four 
thousand years ago this ancient Patriarch would have 
left his boat to rot. Underneath your feet lies mould- 
ering the remains of those who, once like you '* lived 
and moved and had their being," some of wh(3m fellas 
falls the withered leaf touched by the frosts of age, oth- 
ers were cut off in the prime of life ere their high wrought 
hopes had learned reality, the fate of some of those, an 
aged matron of now four score years and ten, learned 
to me, that I might give to fame and you, that when 
fond memory recalls the associations of this day, your 
thoughts might wander back to '^ the time that tried 
melius soulsj^'' and give you cause to thank Heaven who 
cast your lot in a land of peace, of order and of law, in 
whose defence we know you all would freely peril life, 
and for your country's honor bravely die. 

A few months after the close of the war of Indepen- 
dence, some twenty-five families returned to their form- 
er homes, in what was then considered the Back Woods, 
and resumed the occupation of their farms, erection 
of houses, &c. &c., and for some two or more years re- 
mained unmolested, when suddenly a large band of In- 
dians surprised the white inhabitants of this settlement, 
murdering the inhabitants, burning their dwellings, &c. 
Some fled on the first alarm, others collected at a fort 
which once stood where now stands James A. McAhan's 
Mill, (then Ulrich's) which you can see from where you 
now stand. Amongst those who fled were the parents 
and family of our informant, and fourteen other families 
— these had barely time to quit their dwellings ere the 
Indians arrived, the flames of their burning houses serv- 
ed to light their steps through the horrors of a night's 
march. On their first day's journey, when within two 
miles of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata, they met 
five hunters going west to hunt, whom they advised of 
their danger and urged them to return. The hunters 
not believing that there was danger so near continued 
on their route, but had not gone more than two miles 



256 • LIFE o*- 

when they were all shot dead by the Indians, who werifi? ' 
in pursuit of the retreating families (who were totally 
unarmed) and consequently must have fallen an easyi 
prey to their savage pursuers. 

Of those who took refuge in the fort was a Wm. Moore, 
who wishing to visit his farm and look after his horses 
left the fort accompanied by a boy named McCartney, 
then only thirteen years of age. Those two had gone 
less than one-fourth of a mile from the fort when Moore 
was shot at by an Indian, who lay concealed behind a 
thorn bush which he had cut down to hide him from 
observation— the dead body of Mr. Moore was found 
with his feet in the water, on the opposite bank of the 
Juniata river, where you now ford the stream, on the; 
farm of Mr. Robert Thomson. The boy, McCartney, 
seeing Moore fall, hid behind a tree— the Indian made 
signs shewing how he would cut ofFthe scalp of the boy. . 
McCartney placed his hat on the top of his gun, and I 
holding it partly past the tree, which the Indian (sup 
posing contained the head of the boy) fired at, andl 
McCartney at the same instant letting fall the hat — the 
Indian dropped his gun, ran forward exclaiming, " Pooh^ 
Poohj a dead man. At this critical period young McCart- 
ney fired , killing the Indian, and immediately dropping his 
gun, fled to the fort yelling and screaming at every bound. 
On arriving at the fort he fell into fits, and it was many 
days ere the excitement of that trying hour was erased 
from his memory so as to allow him to sleep in repose. 
Often did he, in his sleeping hours, seem to re-enact the 
scene of the Indian's death and his own flight to the fort. 
Young McCartney's name is yet held in fond remem- 
brance — his noble daring is the subject of just encomium. 
The Indian's gun and tomahawk, together with a purse 
of $50, were given him. Some years after this young 
McCartney moved to the yet farther west, settled down 
and prospered well. The body of William Moore lies 
interred on the west side of the Hill, in front of Camp 
Warren, within drum beat of where you now stand — the 
sound of your martial music reaches not his ear, long 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 257 

since has his body returned to its native earth, and his 
spirit to the God who gave it — hurried home by the lead- 
en messenger of death shot from an Indian's gun, whose 
spirit, at the same moment was ushered into eternity 
and together, white spirit and red, met where war's trade 
is forever ended. 

*' Eyes left, you see at a distance of some six hundred 
yards from you a cluster of Lombardy poplar trees, un- 
derneath whose conical shade lies the remains of three 
youths, two boys and one girl, children of William Hol- 
liday, ^' the father of all,'''' Their several names were 
Jane, Adam, and Patrick — these, together with their 
father, were making hay in this field some months after 
the first band of Indians had left this settlement, when 
they were surprised by Indians, and all three of them kill- 
ed in sight of their father, who being at a short distance 
from his children escaped, pursued by an armed Indian, 
whilst the cries of his daughter rang in his ear, calling 
on him to wait for her — *'0h, dear father, wait for me." 
But there was no time to wait, every instant w^as preg- 
nant with danger — his death could not avert her fate, it 
was a trying moment for a parent's heart. He succeed- 
ed in mounting a horse which fell (not dead) shot in the 
grissel of the neck, by a rifle ball from the Indian's gun 
— ere the Indian could re-load, Mr. Holliday mounted a 
horse of Angis M'Donald, which had followed after, and 
made his escape, pursued by the Indian, to near Water 
street (some 17 miles. ) Arriving at Huntingdon he col- 
lects some men, who returned and assisted in burying 
the children, whom they wrapped in a blanket and in- 
terred in one grave, around which lie the remains of 
their parents, brothers, sisters and relations, who have 
since died at or near this place. North of this, at a dis- 
tance of two hundred yards from this grave yard, you see 
in good preservation the old mansion house of Mr. Hol- 
liday. Near this once stood a building called the Com- 
missary house— this the Indians burnt at a subsequent 
period, together with a large quantity of grain, and at- 
tempted to burn the dwelling house, which during an 
22* 



258 ^ LIFE OF 

entire night and part of one day they besieged, frequent- ]U 
ly succeeding in setting fire to the same which those 
within as often extinguished. After they had exhaust- 
ed their supply of lead, Mrs. Holliday melted her pewter- 
ware into bullets, and thus saved the lives of those within, | 

During the period this settlement w^as subjected to: 
the inroads of hostile Indians, it was usual to retreat to I 
the Old Fort referred to. Intelligence having been com- 
municated that Indians were 'aiowi,' two companies 
were sent from the Fort, one of which unexpectedly fell 
in with a company of twenty-five Indians, who were 
preparing their victuals in a dense thicket. The Indians: 
perceived the whites approach, ere they (the whites) w^ere 
aware of their danger, having gone not over two miles 
from the Fort, the Indians concealed themselves behind 
a fallen tree until the w^hites came near enough, when 
the Indians fired, killing and wounding many of the com- 
pany, which consisted of 25 men. On receiving the 
Indian's fire, the officer in command ordered the men to 
tree, some obeyed whilst others fled, and thus the entire 
company, with the exception of only two or three, fell 
an easy prey to the savage foe. Should you wish to 
visit the place where lay bleached by the storms of many 
years, the unburied bones of some twenty-three of the- 
first white inhabitants of Franklin and Bedford settle- 
ments, you will go 2i miles north of this, on the road to* 
Tuckahoe, near where once stood an old Fulling Mill, at 
what is called the Big Spring, on a farm late the proper- 
ty of B. O'Frrel, deceased — near this was the scene of a 
tragic event, which brought sorrow and death into al- 
most every family of the then infant settlement. 

The Union Cavalry, Captain Bell, will pass this spot 
on their return home. To them, we would respectfully 
suggest, that at some not long distant day, they (the 
Union Cavalry) will set up a stone to mark the place 
where fell so many brave citizen-soldiers, an-d now when 
on your homeward march from "Camp Warren," we 
humbly crave that you'll fire one volley o'er their grave 
to appease the manes of slaughtered heroes, and to tell 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 259 

that thougli cold in death their memories are not forgot- 
ten. Volunteers of Bedford, we would humbly suggest 
that when you pass the Big Spring, (now Spang's) 
some six miles distant from Camp Warren, that you 
mark the spot where Adam Houser, and his two sons, 
were slain, and their bodies nailed to the side of his 
house. And as our last request, we would ask the sev- 
eral companies from Mifflin^ Centre^ Perry ^ Juniata and 
Huntingdon J to mark the spot where Moses Donnelly's 
wife and five children (were taken from his canoe whilst 
he w^as absent for a few moments) and of whom no tid- 
ings were ever heard, save the remains of garments and 
w^hitened bones found many days after, which were be- 
lieved to be those of Moses Donnelly's family — the ex- 
act locality Mr. William Donaldson, of the People's 
House at this place, will point out; it is some 15 miles 
east of this on the Juniata river. Thus one by one will 
the events of the early history of this country be handed 
dow^n to succeeding generations. By the Washington 
Greys, and citizens of Hollidaysburg and vicinity, the 
reminiscences of Camp Warren will be gratefully re- 
membered, and the past history of Frankstown settle- 
ment preserved." 

After remaining in the valley for the space of three or 
four weeks, the Indians having left that section of coun- 
try and all was quiet again, we broke up our encamp- 
ment and set out on our march for Carlisle. We broke 
up our camp this time without much (if any) formality. 
We returned to Carlisle by another route than that which 
we had taken on our passage out. We arrived at Car- 
lisle in something like a week after we commenced our 
march homeward. 



CHAPTER XVL 

There was a soldier of the name of Glenn, that had de- 
serted from our detachment as we marched out to the 



260 LIFE OF 

Juniata, and who was taken by some of our men as we 
were returning from the expedition. We had brought 
him on with us and lodged him in the jail at Carlisle. — 
He was soon afterwards tried for desertion, or as it w^as 
often termed " for his life." He was found guilty of de- 
sertion and sentenced to run the gauntlet. We (musi- 
cians) were ordered out to the W'Oods to collect whips. 
We cut and carried four or five large bundles to the bar- 
racs. The soldiers, amounting in all to near 600, were 
ordered out and formed into two rows and faced inwards, 
making a lane between the rows such as I have before 
described. Glenn was then made to strip off his coat, 
vest and shirt. He then started down this lane formed 
by the soldiers and as he passed slowly along (for he was 
not permitted to run) he was guarded by four soldiers with 
fixed bayonets, two before and two behind to cause him 
to walk instead of run. 

He was forced to walk three times through in this 
manner. Every soldier '•^ cut and slashed'^'' at the poor 
fellow from one end of the line to the other, for three 
successive turns. After receiving this awfully severe 
flagellation, there were a number of splinters of a great 
length pulled out of his flesh with pincers, and after- 
wards his back was washed with salt and water ; and a 
sore back he had too, the sight of it was sufficient to 
melt the heart of a stoic into tenderness. 

After he recovered he deserted again, was caught and 
brought back, and lodged in Carlisle jail a second time. 
He was again tried for his life and sentenced to be hung. 
A gallows was erected at the distance of about half 
a mile from the barracs. When the day of his execu- 
tion arrived, " we played the soldiers" out to the gal- 
lows, w^here they formed into a large circle around it. 
We then had to play the provo guard to the jail, in order 
to receive the prisoner. He and some more prisoners 
were brought out and placed in the custody of the provo 
guard. We then marched, playing the Dead Murch 
after them till we arrived at the gallows. An officer 
then read Glenn's sentence to him. After doing of 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 261 

"W'hich, he took a rope and stepped towards a soldier that 
was one of the prisoners we had brought from the jail, 
and handed it to him, bidding him at the same time lo 
take it and fasten it around Glenn's neck, and hang him. 
This man, or as he was called — old soldier, sternly re- 
plied : "I wont do it." The officer then in a rage, 
drew his sword and dashed forward to where the old 
soldier stood. As he advanced, the soldier coolly and 
fearlessly opened his shirt bosom with both hands and 
bearing his breast, said "Run me through," "kill me," 
"shoot me down," "do any thing with me you please, 
but hang Glenn I will not." He repeated again, em- 
phatically and with all the sternness and dignity of mien 
and fearlessness possible for man to possess naturally or 
by acquirement, or able to exercise in a just path, " I 
WILL NOT DO IT." The officer then called to the 
Fife Major and bade him to go to the barracks and bring 
the rope and the cat-o'-nine-tails. These were brought, 
and the old soldier was ordered to strip off his coat, 
jacket and shirt; as soon as this was done he was tied 
up, and we (musicians) were ordered to strip off our 
coats and to fall into line. The cat-o'-nine-tails was 
then handed to me, and I was commanded to " give 
him five lashes, w^ell laid on." I did it, but with a 
heart bleeding inwardly for the gallant veteran. Glad, 
yes, greatly rejoiced would I have been, if I could have 
spared his back the gashes I had to assist in making, 
by striking lightly, but there was no flinching. I was 
not alone in possessing feelings of tenderness that could 
not be shewn or expressed. After I had given him the 
first five lashes, I handed the cat-o'-nine-tails to the next 
to me in the line, and he, when he had given him five, 
handed them to another, and so we proceeded until we 
gave him one hundred lashes. I remember w^ell that 
when the old soldier was untied, he stepped towards 
the officer that had ordered him to be flogged, and said 
" Thank you," " Thank you." After this soldier w^as 
disposed of, the officer look the rope in one hand, a 
loaded pistol in the other, and stepped up to one other 



262 , LIFE OF 

of the soldier-prisoners, and commanded him to take the 
rope and put it around Glenn's neck and hang him, 
stating at the same time (his arm elevated) if he dared 
to refuse he would blow his brains out. The soldier 
replied, " I suppose I must do it." He then took the 
rope from the officer, and advanced to Glenn and fixed 
it around his neck. Glenn was then conducted up a 
ladder, and all things adjusted, he was now about to be 
swung off. A few moments more, and the silver cord 
would have been loosed, and the captive spirit set at 
liberty. But hark ! what sounds are those that break 
upon the ear from the distance ? Who is this^ that is 
borne as it were with the speed of the winds ? 

A moment or two before he was, (or as I may state, as 
he was about) to be swung off, a horseman was seen 
coming as hard as his horse could come. This man was 
calling aloud, and waving a white pocket handkerchief 
in the air. This caused a suspension, momentarily, 
of the deathly operations in which all were more or less 
engaged. 

As soon as the herald drew near, he pulled out a paper 
and rode up to an officer and handed it to him. It 
proved to be a reprieve for Glenn. It appeared that 
Glenn's father lived neighbor to General Washington, 
and the family was always in the confidence of Wash- 
ington, and his father being a very respectable man, 
Washington was induced by these considerations and 
the pleadings of that father (and perhaps of his mother) 
to spare the son. 

Do any of ray readers believe in the efficacy of faith- 
ful and ardent prayer? Is it dealing in a speculative 
manner with the circumstances to ask, may not a fond, 
patriotic, faithful and prayerful mother of godliness have 
been engaged in secret prayer all the day before, night 
before and ail that day to the Most High God — in fond 
and faithful supplications, put up to the Throne of his 
Grace for this her beloved son ? Is it speculative I ask, 
to suppose that He who is the hearer of prayer and the 
answerer thereof, and the rewarder of them that diligent- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



26:^ 



]y seek him, did so bring- it about as His answers of 
faithfulness to this patriotic mother in Israel, that this 
patriotic and life-despising soldier-prisoner, had "the pre- 
paration of the heart and the answer of the tongue from 
the Lord" — from Himself through his own spirit that 
enabled him to make so glorious a stand in refusing to 
act as executioner in executing a brother soldier. They 
both may have been brother Masons ; if so, here was an 
exalted display of the fidelity of brother to brother, death 
to himself ere he would raise his hand against the life 
of his brother.* A mystic tie, a thread of life so close- 
ly and so dearly interwoven with his own — a mystic tie, 
offspring of the steller virtues enshrined in that Grand 
Order of ennobling sublimity. Be this as it may have 
been, it surely w^as a marked, signal and special pro- 
vidence of Almighty God throughout, and especially 
shown in the soldier-prisoner persisting with such un- 
shaken firmness in his refusal as he did. Had it not 
been for this circumstance, the soul of Glenn would have 
been in eternity two or more hours before, — would have 
winged its flight to the bar of that Just God (before 
whom all flesh must come,) two hours or more before 
that the messenger arrived with his reprieve, for we cer- 
tainly spent three hours (if not more) from the time we 
arrived at the gallows until we left it. After the re- 
prieve was read aloud, Glenn was ordered down from 
off the ladder, and restored to his company. The line 
of march was then formed, and we were marched back 
to the barracs. When we returned again to the bar- 
racs, it was nearly roll-call in the evening. The sol- 
dier w^ho so nobly refused to hang Glenn, was restored 
to his company also. The rest of the prisoners were 
ordered again to the guard-house. 



* The author is not to be understood as meaning that a Mason or Odd- 
Fellow ought, or would, refuse to execute a just law against a criminal 
belonging to the Order with himself, but, as in this instance, where the 
will or caprice of an officer would alone depute as an executioner, he con- 
tends that it was a noble, a grand contempt of death, — offering to die, «re 
be would shed the blood of a brother under such circumstances. 



g^ ^ ♦ LIFE OF 

Friendship! mysterious cement of tlie soul, 
Sweet'ner of life, and solder of society, 
I owe thee much. Thou hast deserved from me 
Far, far, beyond what I can ever pay. 
Oft have I proved the labors of thy love, 
And the warm efforts of the gentle heart, 
Anxious to please. 

Oh ! when my friend and I 
In some thick wood have wandered heedless on, 
Hid from the vulgar eye, and sat us down 
Upon the sloping cowslip- covered bank. 
Where the limpid stream has slid along 
In grateful errours through the underwood, 
Sweet murmuring, methought the shrill-tongued thrush 
Mended his song of love; the sooty blackbird 
JVIellowed bis pipe, and softened every note : 
The eglantine smelled sweeter, and the rose 
Assumed a die more deep, while every flower 
Tied with its fellow- plant in luxury 
Of dress. Oh! then, the longest summer's day 
Seemed too, too much in haste : still the full heart 
Had not imparted half: 'twas happiness 
Too exquisite to last. Of joys departed, 
Not to return, how painful the remembrance ! 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Shortly after Glenn's reprieve, we received orders to 
march on to Lancaster, Pa., to aid in taking charge of 
a great number of British prisoners that had been march- 
ed thither. After our arrival at Lancaster, I was again 
put under the command of Major Greer. The Ameri- 
can soldiers at Lancaster erected stoccades for the prison- 
ers. A large plot of ground was enclosed as by a gar- 
den fence. The palings were plank 4 or 5 inches thick, 
and extended in height about 30 feet. Inside of these 
stoccades, barracs were erected, and at every corner 
outside a house was built, one or two of which were oc- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 265 

cupied by Drummers and Fifers, and the other two were 
used as guard-houses. At the distance of about a half 
a mile stood the barracs in which the American soldiers 
were stationed. 

The British officers (many in number) who were pri- 
soners of war at Lancaster, were permitted to wear their 
swords. These officers were full of cash, and frolicked 
and gamed much. One amusement in which they in- 
dulged much, was playing at ball. A Ball- Alley was 
fitted up at the Court House, where some of them were 
to be seen at almost all hours of the day. When I 
could beg or buy a couple of old stockings, or two or 
three old stocking-feet, I would set to work and make 
a ball. After winding the yarn into a ball, I went to 
a skin-dressers and got a piece of white leather, with 
which I covered it. When finished, I carried it to the 
British officers, who would ^^jump at it^^ at a quarter of 
a dollar. Whilst they remained at Lancaster, I made 
many balls in this way, and sold them to the British of- 
ficers, and always received a quarter a-piece. 

Some of these officers (the British field-officers) had 
several very fine English horses, and that were good 
runners too. Our officers used to run American horses 
against theirs upon small bets, and would so manage it 
as that the English horses won the stakes. The Ameri- 
can officers by a little management in this way, soon 
found out the bottom of their own horses, as well as that 
of the English ones. The American officers would get 
the English officers to run their horses against time on 
small bets, and when they found out the greatest speed 
of the English horses, they then went off some little dis- 
tance where they would be out of the view of the English 
officers, and ran their (American) horses a like distance, 
and against the same time. After they had done this, they 
w^ould know what the English horses could do, and what 
their own could do also. The American officers would 
then take on heavy bets and win them. At last they made 
up large purses to be run for. The British officers de- 
pending upon the bottom of their horses, which they 
23 



266 



^LIFE OF 



Still thought could not be beaten, "forked oTer" their 
yellow-boys (gold) largely into the purses. I recollect 
that our officers, by their Yankee Jonathan management, 
were always able to beat John Bull with their American 
chargers. Major Varnum's (American) horse came out 
first, and won the first purse, and Major Greer's (Ameri- 
can) horse came out second and won the second purse, 
Avhilst John Bull came out last and among the missing, 
or at least his shiners (guineas) were missed, and a good 
many of them too, they having absquatulated^ and sought 
refuge in the pockets of the American officers (as the 
transferred captives of the captured,) to whom they were 
of signal service. This was fine fun for the American sol- 
diers and the citizens of Lancaster, for they (the soldiers) 
laid claim to the merit of their horses in mettle and speed, 
as they were able to do to the merit of their own bravery 
upon the battle-fields of their country. If the American 
soldiers were proud of this, and exulted therein, it was 
a source of great humiliation to the British officers and 
soldiers that were possessed of a too boastful a nature 
at best. The British officers having been permitted to 
wear their swords, and to associate w-ilh the American 
officers, caused them to become haughty and turbulent. 
This very honorable indulgence extended to them upon 
the part of the American officers, they could not stand, 
they therefore became saucy, and this led to an end of 
such privileges. Whilst the game of ball was coming 
off one day at the Court House, an American officer and 
a British officer, who were among the spectators, became 
embroiled in a dispute. The British officer priding him- 
self (and putting himself) upon the use of the sword, 
appealed to it, and instantly drew it. The American 
officer upon seeing this, instantly thrust his hand into 
his pocket, in order to draw out a pistol. The moment 
the British officer perceived this, he took to his heels, 
and ran. When the American officer was taking the 
pistol from his pocket, it caught in some way in the lining, 
and before he succeeded in getting it out, the British 
officer had gained the door of the public house in which 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



267 



he boarded. Just at the instant he was entering- the 
door, our officer drew upon him, and the ball struck the 
cheek of the door near to his head. An inch or two 
lower down and further towards the centre of the pas- 
sage, would have laid him sprawling over his boasted 
weapon. 

This caused a mighty uproar in the town, and this 
British officer, with 'several other British officers that 
backed him as their modern Don Quixote, (that found 
that he was not engaging a Wind-Mill,) were imme- 
diately arrested, disarmed and imprisoned in Lancaster 
jail. They were released, however, from confinement 
in the course of two or three days, and their liberties 
restored to them again, but with this exception, that 
they were not allowed to wear their swords. This, none 
other of the British otlicers was permitted to do again, 
whilst th=ey remained at Lancaster. 

There was a young Indian of the tribe of friendly 

Indians, who had a kind of straggling quarters amongst 
«s ; he was passionately fond of music, but good for 
nothing but to steal, lie and to do mischief of all kinds. — 
He came very near being the instrument to deprive me 
of my right arm all my life, if not of my life itself. I 
and another Fifer had gone into Lancaster one night 
snd did not return until n late hour. As we were re- 
turning to our quarters, this Indian came running after 
us, and had a box of ease-knives and forks, which he 
had stolen out of a gentleman's house in Lancaster. We 
knew they were stolen, and we began to scold him, in 
order to make him carry them back again. He went off 
from us, and we thought he had gone to do as we had 
bid him; but, it appeared, he carried them into the bar- 
racs and hid them under the floor. On the next morn- 
ing a complaint was made, and at roll call a search was 
instituted. In making the search, the box was found 
hidden under the floor. This Indian was immediately 
arrested and put into the guard-house. We having had 
to pass the sentinel late the night before, were of course 
kflown by him, and he had named us as having come in 



268 ^ LIFE OF 

at a late hour the night previous, and about the same 
time that the Indian had returned. We were conse- 
quently arrested and placed in the guard-house also. 
We being put into the same guard room with the Indian, 
I began to curse him, and perhaps struck him or struck 
at him, for bringing us into the difficulty and for causing 
us to be thus unjustly dealt with, and unhappily situated. 
He snatched up his tomahawk and "/e^s/ip" at me> 
and sunk it into my right arm at the elbow-joint. Some 
of the prisoners caught hold of his tomahawk and wrest- 
ed it out of his hand, or likely he would have repeated 
the blow. The prisoners pulled off my coat quickly, 
and when they stripped up my shirt sleeve in order to 
look at the gash, they found that he had sunk the toma- 
hawk ihto the joint and severed it, and discovered also 
that the joint water was running out of the wound. A 
chain and a fifty-six was immediately fastened to one of 
his legs, and this he had to carry about with him wher- 
ever he moved to, within the room or out of it. 

In the course of a few days we had our trial, and as 
nothing could be proved against us, and in consequence 
of his having confessed that he had stolen them himself, 
and said we had not been with him, we were both ac- 
quitted and discharged immediately. This Indian thief 
was then tried and sentenced to receive fifty lashes on 
his bared back and to be drummed out and away from 
the barracs. The first part of his sentence was execu 
ted, and then the guard, with Fifers and Drummers led 
by a Corporal, escorted him out and off some distance, 
playing and beating the Rogue's March after him. 

I recollect that sometime previous to his having stolen 
the box of knives and forks, he had been caught steal- 
ing chickens from a man that lived in Lancaster. This 
man missed chickens often, and in order to detect and 
secure the thief, he had conceived the idea of doing so 
by the use of the following means: 

He fastened the one end of a cord to the legs of one 
of the fowls in the hen-roost and passed the cord into 
his bed-room, and attached a bell to that end at the 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 269 

head of his bed. Hearing the bell jingle very loud one 
night, he jumped out of his bed and ran to his hen-roost 
and captured our Indian, who turned out to be the thief 
that had so often borne away his chickens. As soon as 
he caught him, he commenced giving him a most un- 
merciful flogging, which he had to stand and take, after 
which he drove him off. In a few days after, the officers 
heard of it, and would have flogged him for stealing, 
but considering that the owner had constituted the whole 
court — witness, judge, jury and executioner, and had let 
him off and had not come to the barracks to complain 
against him they let him slip at that time. I saw this 
Indian after the revolutionary war was ended, in Phila- 
delphia, where he was acting in the capacity of a boss 
or journeyman chimney sweep. 

Having caught cold in my arm it swelled to an enor- 
mous size, and until it caused the right breast to be very 
much swollen also ; the doctors ordered it to be poultic- 
ed often. They would come and look at it, but they 
.did nothing for me. It became worse instead of bet- 
ter. They came one evening and consulted with one 
another, and the result of their conference was, that my 
arm must come off. They agreed to meet next morn- 
ing for the purpose of cutting it off. 

An elderly lady who was present, and who lived not 
far off, expressed her regret that a hearty young lad such 
as I was, should lose my arm, pursuaded me to go home 
with her, promising me at the same time, that she would 
take care of me and do all that she could for me, stating 
also, that she knew she could cure it. 

I went home with her that evening, which, had I not 
done, would have undoubtly subjected me to the loss 
of an arm, on the next morning. The first thing she 
did was to get water, and filled a large kettle and 
brought it to a boiling heat with which she filled a large 
tub, and steeped a parcel of herbs in it and then 
placed me in a sitting posture over the tub, covering 
me well with blankets. After steaming and sweating 
me in this way for a lone^ time, she then put me to bed. 
33* 



270 • LIFE OP 

She anointed my arm with grease or oil of some kind, 
and rubbed it well and then slie made up a large poul- 
tice of leaven and applied to it. By the next morn- 
ing the swelling had drawn down so much to my hand, 
that rny fingers nearly bursted asunder. In the course 
of a short time, she scattered all the swelling and healed 
the cut at the elbow. 

This good old lady, was a great blessing to me, through 
my after life up to the present time and this will but termi- 
nate with my life. It was providential that she was 
thrown across my way at that particular point of time, 
for (as I have before stated,) had she not visited me, the 
Doctors would have amputated it next morning as they 
had agreed to do. 

Although my arm has beea stiff ever since, it never 
has hindered me to play the fife, providing that I always 
placed my fingers over the holes of my fife before I 
would put it to my mouth. There was an old man, a 
camp Doctor at the barracs, who was passionately fond 
of music. Often after we would get done beating the 
reveille, he would ask us to go over to his quarters and 
play and beat awhile for his amusement. He took quite 
a liking to me, and happening to notice me one morning 
fixing my fingers upon the holes of my fife before I plac- 
ed it to my mouth, and the difficulty I labored under of 
bringing my right hand up to my mouth,, asked the Fife 
Major what was the cause of my doing so. The Fife 
Major told him all about it. The Doctor then observed 
to me, that had I informed him of it long before that, 
he could have done something for me and would have 
given me some stuflf that would have made it supple, put 
that now, he could do no more than strengthen it. He 
said he would give me a stuff that would make it strong- 
er than the other. He took me in, and placed a plaister 
upon it, some of which was still on it at the end of three 
months after he put it on. The old Doctor I believe 
made good his word, for my right arm, has been a great 
deal stronger, than the left eyer since. 

TUe British prisoners were sent off to some military 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEVVEES. 271 

post not now recollected, as I did not accompany the 
detachment sent with them, I am the less able to re- 
member to what point they were removed to. 

After they had started, I frequently amused myself 
with a bow and arrows, in shooting at rats in the stoc- 
cades. They were very numerous, and of an enormous 
size. This kind of sport I enjoyed very well. I one 
day shot at one which was nearly the size of a cat. I 
had shot my arrow through his body and he bit off the 
arrow. I followed him up and finally clubbed him to 
death. There were millions and tens of millions of fleas 
in the cellars. I have very often rolled up my trousers 
above my knees, and ran down into the cellars and up 
again as hard as I could ^'heel it,^^ and my legs would 
be so covered as to be black with them. When I would 
run out of the cellars I would take my hands and push 
them down along my legs as a person would stockings, 
and then clear myself as fast as I could, to some dis- 
tance from them. This besides, being sport for myself, 
was fine fun for lookers on. 

On the return of the American troops (sent off with 
the British prisoners,) Captain Steake^s company was 
ordered to march on to Reading to take charge of the 
Hessian prisoners that laid there, and march them off to 
Elizabethtown Point in Jersey, in order that an exchange 
of prisoners should be made with the British. Pat 
Coner, Drummer and myself, Fifer, to Captain Steake's 
company had to accompany them. All things being in 
readiness, we marched off with the tune of ^^over the hills 
and far away.^^ When upon the march to Reading., 
we halted one day at a tavern about noon. Our officers 
they took their dinners and grog at the tavern, whilst 
we sat down and took a bite such as we had, out in front 
of the house. After we had finished eating our "coW 
hunger ^^checkyV I walked out a little distance from 
the rest of the company. W^hilst reconnoitering, I es- 
pied a fine looking Peacock sitting upon the top of the- 
barn. Ogleing his beautiful feathers, I thought that I 
miust have some of them. I could throw a finger stone' 



272 • LIFE Ot' 

to a certain distance at a mark with almost as mucli 
precision as I could shoot a rifle-ball. I searched around 
and found a stone that I thought would suit my purpose] 
exactly, so ^^ letting slip^^ at him I hit him as near asi 
might be to the spot I wanted to " ifap" him, and he! 
came tumbling down along the roof of the barn and felfj 
to the ground. I ran and caught him before he was| 
able to recover himself and pulled out his splendid feath- 
ers. These I doubled and rolled up as tenderly and nice- 
ly as I could, so as not to break them, and then stowed^ 
them away in my knapsack, I had but just finished my)' 
business of plucking, when I was called to ^^heatup thev 
long roll.^^ We set out immediately on the march againf 
and I never sent a Doctor back to see how the poor par-j 
tient peacock fared in his short tail ailment. We marched* 
to within three miles of Heading that afternoon, andl 
there we remained until the next morning. Before we:! 
resumed our march in the morning, we were ordered!^ 
each man to put on clean clothes with which we hadl 
provided ourselves before we started from Lancaster,.; 
I, divided my peacock feathers with Pat Coner, and wer 
decorated our caps in fine style with peacock plumes.,] 
They were much admired by the officers and men, but;! 
none of them knew where they had been procured, andjj 
I, not choosing to tell tales out qfschooly did not take the! 
trouble to inform them. ' 

All being in readiness we took up the line of march 
for Reading. When we crossed the bridge over the 
Schuylkill and was about to enter the town I struck up 
the air called '^ The Boyne Water." The streets every 
where were filled with people, and as that place had 
been my old home, I could over-hear some that knew 
me, say, as we marched through the town, " there goes 
little Sam Dewees," *' Look here fellows there's little 
Sam Dewees," &c. At this time I must have been 
twenty-one or two but very small for my age. 

After we had marched through the town we were led 
up near to where the prisoners laid and were billeted in 
a barn that night. As soon as we were dismissed, one 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 273 

of my old comrades, who lived about three miles from 
Reading, stepped up and took me by the hand. He in- 
vited me to go home with him and stay all night, I told 
him I could not go. He insisted on my accompanying 
him. I then told him I durst not go without the per- 
mission of my officers, and that I thought they would 
not let me go were I to ask them. He went to Captain 
Steake and plead so hard with him, that he at length 
consented for me to go with him but told him that I must 
be back at the break of day to play the reveille and if 
not I should be punished. I then went with him to his 
home, where meeting with others with whom I was ac- 
quainted, I was quite happy indeed. I played the fife 
for their amusement a long while. Being quite merry, 
(girls and boys,) we enjoyed ourselves well and sat up 
singing and playing the fife until a very late or rather an 
early hour, for we did not retire to bed until it was nearly 
two o'clock in the morning. Owing to this, we all 
overslept ourselves. When I awoke it was '■''broad day 
light.^^ I up and ran as swiftly as I could and not 
without trembling with fear, for I thought of the punish- 
ments I had seen inflicted at Carlisle barracs, for tri- 
vial offences. Notwithstanding the haste I made, I had 
the mortification when I arrived at the billeting ground 
to behold the company in line and upon parade. The 
Captain brandished his sword about and gave me a few 
curses for disobeying orders and then told me to '^fall 
in." This was a signal to me that a pardon was grant- 
ed, and that it was all over for this time. The order 
that of ^^ fall in,''^ relieved me altogether. 

We then marched to where the Hessian prisoners lay. 
Our company then divided and formed a line on each 
side of the road. The prisoners were then placed in the 
centre, a guard in front and another in the rear. The 
officers and music preceding the front guard. In this 
order we set out on the march, and continued to play 
until we were ordered to march at ease. 

After this we had good times, for there was a " band" 
among the prisoners and our officers allowed it to play 



274 • LIFE OF 

during our march. Owing to this, we had to play bu 
very little all the way. Nothing of any great conse 
quence transpired from the time we set out from Read! 
ing until w€ arrived at Elizabethtown Point. We die 
not remain long at the latter place but returned back imi 
mediately to Lancaster rejoicing. When we arrived ai 
Lancaster we found that the soldiers we had left ther 
when we marched away had all drawn three months pa;; 
and their discharge too. Then every man went to hi 
home, or to where he pleased to go until settlement day; 
The place appointed for settlement was in Philadelphia 
I was among the first that entered the army in 1776 aftei 
Independence was declared, and now among the las: 
discharged. As soon as I received my discharge I wen 
on to Poplar Neck, within three miles of Reading, anc' 

hired with Lewis, who was a brother to my old masi 

ter, and at that place I remained until the settlement dai 
was approaching. I then set out for Philadelphia. 



CHAPTER XVIIL 

After reaching Philadelphia, I chose a man of the namt 
of George Saval to act in the capacity of Agent or Guari 
dian for me, giving him a power of attorney to receive 
all monies due me by the government. Saval went witl 
me and I bound myself to one George Cooper, a skir 
dresser, who w^as located at the corner of Market anc 
Fourth streets, Philadelphia. Saval drew all my pa} 
and cheated me out of every cent of it. This practice 
is followed by guardians yet, and to speak without re- 
gard to truth it is highly creditable for them to cheat or 
phan's and widow's out of their all, especially out of that 
hard earned by themselves, as this money was by myself 
Of the Hessian prisoners captured at Red Bank below 
Philadelphia and at other places, quite a number of their 
staid in this country, took them wives, and settled in dif-i 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 275 

iferent parts of the United States. There were many of 
Jthera that commenced business for themselves in Phila- 
idelphia. There was one who kept a Tavern in Market 
jstreet, not far from Cooper's dwelling. One evening a 
[journeyman belonging to our shop, asked the apprenti- 
ices in the shop and myself to take a walk with him. — 
We did so, and in passing by the Tavern of the Hessian 
he invited us to go in with him saying that he would 
treat us each to a mug of beer. We went in with him. 
The Hessian's establishment was pretty well fitted up, 
"he had a large bulk or bow window in front, which w^as 
very well stocked with liquors of different kinds. His 
bar was quite a large one at that early day in this coun- 
try. When we entered, we found quite a company of 
Hessians seated in the bar-room drinking and smoking* 
The journeyman advanced to the bar and called for beer, 
the Hessian landlord then jumped up in a rage and or- 
dered him out of his house, saying at the same time that ' 
he had no beer for him ; the journeyman replied, I have 
come in civilly and what I call for, I will pay you for. — 
The landlord seized the bar of the door and played away 
at him, and we being few in number, of course retreated 
into the street, not relishing at all the reception we had 
met with. I thought that such barefaced tory injustice 
ought to be rewarded in some shape or other, and as the 
balance of power was altogether against us, there was 
no such thing as carrying theybr^ by storm. His surly, 
unjust and insulting conduct and wanton assault was too 
much for those to stand, that had stood in defence of the 
liberties and laws of the country. Not being able to 
"whip with justice in law and by it, I thought I would 
try whether I could not take the law into my own hands 
for a moment or two and whip him in the use of physi- 
cal strength well applied. So I looked around for a 
something and got hold of a brick-bat, with which I let 
** slip" at his bar or bulk window and happening to strike 
the sash about the middle of the window, I dismantled 
all the guns of Captain Alcahol and his would be, su- 
preme foreign Commander. The cannons (bottles) that 



276 , LIFE OF 

stood charged and ready at the port-holes, (window] 
were knocked about so tremendously, bursted and wen 
by my four pound carronade so that their powder and balls 
(liquor) were knocked out at the muzzles and at other plai 
€es, and scattered every which way causing great destruc^ 
tion among bottles, glasses, &,c. in the fort, and confm^ 
sion among the Hessian ranks therein. For my owfii 
part I took care of number one, and heeled it home like 
a good fellow. The watchman captured the jur and 
marched him off to the watch-house where he was re^j 
tained all night. I 

The next morning the other apprentices with myseli 
were summoned to appear before a Magistrate. When 
we arrived at the Magistrate's office we found the Hes- 
sian landlord , our Master and the journeyman and a great 
many more that had collected to hear the trial and enjoy^ 
the fun. Said my master to me, " Well Samuel what 
have you to say for yourself." ** What do you know 
about this matter." I told him I could tell something: 
about it. I was then qualified. I stated that on thcf 
evening previous, our journeyman asked us (boys) to take 
a walk with him and that we had done so. That as we: 
were passing the tavern of this Hessian, (pointing at the: 
same time to the Hessian landlord,) in Market street. — 
At the word Hessian he jumped up in a great rage to: 
strike me, but he had to sit down again. The magis-- 
trate told him if he did not sit down and " hush wp" he: 
would commit him to jail immediately. When he sat' 
down I proceeded to state that the journeyman had invit- 
ed us to go into this Hessian's Tavern and drink some 
beer with him. That when we entered we found a num- 
ber of Hessians there. That they were drinking, smok- 
ing, &c. and stated that the jur called for a half a gal- 
lon of beer but that the Hessian landlord told him to 
"gleer ouse," and said ^^I cot no beer vor yooz" upon 
which the jur had replied that he came'in civilly and in- 
tended to pay for the beer, and then stated that the Hes- 
sian landlord picked up the bar of the door and beat him i 
out of his house, and that I afterwards heard a great rat- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 277 

tling at the window and among the bottles, &c. over the 
floor of the bar-room. That I had also heard a great 
noise and confusion about the Hessian's tavern door, 
and that I was positive that the jur could not, and did not 
throw any thing at the house or at his window. If I 
could state this positively, I state as positively now, that 
I kept the knowledge as to who did throw the bat, to 
myself. The other apprentices stated in substance what 
I had stated. 

The Hessian landlord had to pay all costs, mend his 
window, replenish it with bottles and glasses, and fill 
them with liquors at his own expense into the bargain. 

There are ** scrapes" in which men are sometimes 
caught, the results of which are often regretted very 
much afterwards, but this I have to regret yet. I have 
voluntarily engaged in every emergency in which my 
country has been thrown, and when its peace has been 
jeopardized, either by a foreign or domestic foe, I have 
raised my voice to assert her rights and the supremacy 
of the laws, and have always backed that voice by my 
presence and actions upon duty in the field. To be 
thus treated by a set of men, who had came as hirelings 
to fight against and butcher the inhabitants of ray coun- 
try — at the hands of a set of desperadoes, assassins and 
murderers, who, when they infested and marched through 
the Jerseys, (headed by their ignoble and inhuman co- 
adjutors, king George's satellites* and demoniac tories) 
acted more cruel than the wild savages of the forests, 
murdering men, women and children in an indiscrimi^ 
nate and unprovoked manner, for they paid no regard to 
age, sex or condition. They frequently picked up suck- 
ing infants upon their bayonet's points, and carried them 



*'* Perhaps some of my readers may think that the writer of this volume is 
rather severe at times. To all such censurers he would observe, take super- 
inhuman cruelty home to yourselves, as manifested towards his own by the 
British. He lost an uncle, who volunteered and perished during the late 
war in that modern and long to he remembered Hell of infernal inhumanity, 
Dartmoor Prison, in England. He shall be among the last then to wink at 
her hellish and hell-hound modes of warfare, and the last to believe that 
she possesses a tenth of the national honor she boasts of possessing." 

Hanna's Glory qf Columbia. 

24 



278 . t.iv'E oT 

about, dashing them headlong to the ground, as hunteri 
would the wild vermin of the wilderness. I have pass- 
ed through Jersey, and have laid (during the Revolu- 
tion) near to where these horrid scenes were acted, and 
then they were but too fresh in the reeollectiofts of the 
people, and particularly of fond weeping mothers, fathers, 
brothers, sisters, relatives and acquaintances. Despera- 
does, whose inglorious hands were stained with the blood 
of the innocent, and their heads were covered with 
crimes of the deepest die. Murderers, who would claim 
in their state of alienship all the privileges due to the free- 
native born and naturalized citizens of my country, and 
beyond this, to bear down, and rule, and ride rough-shod 
over all, especially over those (myself included) who had 
stood cherishing and supporting their country from the 
first dawnings of liberty to its full fruition of Republican 
Glory and Independence in her glorious establishmertt 
of herself as a supreme, independent nation of freemenj 
Yes ! By sacrifices that will scarcely gain for themselves 
a belief. 

Descendants of many of those erael hearted and bloody 
beasts I know very well. Some of them, in the language 
of the day, "are great men" in the country. It would 
be hard, \i is true, at this late day to stigmatize the de- 
scendants of such by a personal identification, and by 
bestowing a knowledge of their close alliance by blood 
to such, especially if good republican friends to the in- 
stitutions of my country. It would certainly be unjust 
to offer to saddle upon these the horrid crimes of their 
mean and despicable, bloody and blood-thirsty fore- 
fathers, j 

I staid with my master (Cooper) until he lost hifij 
health, and was forced to relinquish his business of skim 
dressing. When he did so, he gave to me my inden- 
tures. I then went and bound myself to a boot and 
shoe maker, and continued to work constantly at the 

business for the space of years. When I became 

free, I went up the country to my old neighborhood,, 
within three miles of Reading, and worked at boot and 
shoe making for some time, I 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWBES. 279 

*' There's a tear that falls when we part 

From a friend whose loss we shall mourn ; 
Tiiere's a tear that flows from the half-broken heart, 

Wlien we tliink he may never return— oh ! never. 

'Tis hard to be parted from those 

With whom we forever could dwell, 
But, bitter, indeed, is the sorrow that flows 

When, perhaps, we are saying farewell — forever. 

There's a tear that brightens the eye 

Of the friend, when absence is o'er ; 
^niere's a tear that flows not for sorrow, but joy, 

When we meet to be parted ao more, — n-o never. 

Then all that in absence we dread 

Is past, and forgotten our pain; 
For sweet is the tear we at such moments shed, 

When we behold the lov'd object again— forever." 

1 must have return-ed to Poplar Neck from Philadel- 
phia sometime during the summer of 1785, The people 
of that neighborhood, believing that I was a kind of a 
no-scare fellow, and not afraid to stay by myself any 
where, earnestly solicited me to go out to — val- 
ley, (away beyond the broad mountain,) with a drove of 
hogs, and remain with them until they should fatten 
upon the chestnuts and acorns, with which the woods of 
that region of country abounded. I at length consented 
to go upon certain conditions, to which they all agreed. 
The neighbors then began to gather up all their hogs to 
one place, as a drover would preparatory to his starting 
with his drove of hogs to seek a market. Some owned 
five, some eight, others ten, others twelve, and some 
fifteen each. In all about seventy. Each man put a 
small bell on one of his hogs. They provided me with 
a good rifle-gun, and all other necessaries for this hog 
expedition and campaign. 

All things being in readiness for the move, we started 
and several of the owners accompanied me for the pur- 
pose of assisting me to drive the hogs to the valley, and to 



280 • LIFE OF 

assist me in constructing a wilderness shantie as a lodg-' 
ing or dwelling place. 

We drove thera across the mountain, which 

"was all a wilderness, and then over the Broad mountain 
(which was seven miles wide on the top) and down into 
the valley. We had to drive them through a number of i 
pine swamps, which were deep and miry. We had no 
road, not even a path. I recollect we had to cross and 
recross the Schuylkill river eight or ten times in the short 
distance of one mile. At a considerable distance up the 
valley we halted, and about 300 yards from the great 
road that passed up the valley, they built me (by the 
side of the trunk of a very large lying tree,) a kind of a 
shed-fashioned house. They made a number of pun- 
cheons,* and with these they built my house in the fol- 
lowing manner. They laid a log on the ground at the 
distance of eight or ten feet from the large tree and par- 
allel with it, on these two they pinned puncheons, for 
a roof; they then closed in the sides wdth puncheons 
also, leaving a kind of a door-way for me to go in and out 
at. In this I homed, cooked my victuals, and I slept in 
it also. This done, the hog owners returned home, leav- 
me a kind of a Robinson Crusoe, or a Selkirk, " mon- 
arch of all I ' could' survey ;" and besides, being now 
a hog-boss, I was like Crusoe, boss pretty much of the 
wilderness, going about to and fro, and up and down 
unmolested, like to old Nick when he was persecuting 
good old Job. Here I homed between one and two 
months happily and undisturbed, except by the wolves, 
&c. Almost every night whilst I staid in this wilder- 
ness, I could hear them at the distance of two or three 
hundred yards from my hotel, growling and howling as 
if a pack of hounds were on the chase after a fox. Bears 
will attack, kill and devour hogs, but wolves will not. 



♦Puncheons are a broad kind of rough plank made out of large timber by 
splitting. The logs are cut 6, 8, 10 or 12 feet in length and are then split 
up into broad pieces 3 and 4 inches in thickness. When floors are laid 
with thera in Cabins, the upper sides are generally hewn somewhat strait 
and smooth. These are then called puncheons. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES, 



281 



Had my charge been sheep instead of hogs, the wolves 
would have attacked them without any ceremony. I 
had, therefore, upon the score of my charge (hogs) noth- 
ing to fear, and as to myself, I only wished that they 
would come near enough to enable me to get a shot at 
them. Every morning after preparing and eating my 
breakfast, my duty was to visit my hogs, I called them 
to me, and after collecting them thus, threw them a little 
corn and then counted my flock. One morning I missed 
two that belonged to a poor man in the neighborhood 
from which I had brought my drove, and whom I had 
told to bring them in to the hog rendezvous^ and I would 
take them out to the valley and bring them back again 
free of cost. After I missed these two hogs, I took my 
gun upon my shoulder and started off in search of them. 
I crossed the broad mountain, and at about ten miles 
distance from my quarters, I came to a tavern. Here I 
enquired whether hogs such as I described had been seen 
about there, and was told that none of the description I 
gave, had been seen. I staid at the tavern all night. 
There had fallen a snow during the night of about two 
inches in depth. I had beheld many Deer, but had 
never been able to get a shot at any but one. In the 
morning I told the landlord that I believed I would go 
out awhile in search of deer, that there being snow, I 
might possibly come across a deer-track, and that I 
should not stay out very long. It was not very cold, 
this I recollect, from the fact of my not having any stock- 
ings on. I had not gone very far until I fell upon the 
track of a buck,* which I followed slowly, thinking to 
come up with him, but it began to thaw, and the snow 
was then melted. I lost his track, and then gave up the 
chase. By this time a great fog had arose, and I thought 
to return to the tavern, but could not find the way. I 
travelled about until it was near night, and then heard 
a shot. This is a rule among hunters; when one is sup- 



* Buck is a iiarae given to the toale deer, wliiist tlie female is called a 
Doe. 

24* 



282 * LIFE or 

pOvSed to be lost, a rifle is fired three times in successioiij 
the lost one, if he hears the shots, fires his gun in answer, 
and so they proceed, each continuing to fire as they near 
each other, until they shall be able to meet. 

My rifle having got wet with the water still upon the 
bushes, I could not give an answer. I ran as fast as I 
could towards where the shots were fired, and blew loud- 
ly upon my charger,* thinking that the person shooting 
might possibly hear me. It seemed to me that in the 
midst of all my exertions I was getting further off from 
the reports of the gun. I stopped and tried to strike up 
a fire, but my strivings were all in vain, my tow being 
wet, I flashed away half of my powder, and was forced 
to give it up. It then began to rain, and the night be- 
came very dark. I went into a pine swamp, and sat 
me down at the root of a large pine tree. The night 
became that dark, that I could not see my hand before 
my face. I then covered myself up as well as I could 
with my coaty and sought a cure for all my troubles in 
sleep. Still ruminating, I found fatigue and hunger had 
no agency in lulling me to sleep. Owing to the crowd 
of thoughts with which my mind was filled, I got com- 
pletely past my sleep. Sometime in the night I heard 
something comrng at about thr^e or four rods distance 
from me. As it trod upon the brush or sticks lying in 
its way, I could hear them cracking and snapping as 
when one would break sticks over the knee. At this 
moment I did not know what to do. I could not fire 
my rifle, or else I would have fired towards it. I then 
thought I would halloo, and did so, and very loud too. 
I then sat as still as a mouse and listened, but could not 
hear it move in any direction. Being very much 
fatigued, as well as hungry and cold, and the night far 
advanced, I began to doze in spite of my every exertion 
to keep awake. I at length fell asleep, and when J 
awoke for the first time, I found it was broad day light, 
and I do assure my readers that I felt extremely glad 
that it was so. In conversation afterwards with an old 



* A tin tube or measure closed at oue cad, aud of a size to coutaiii powder 
sufficieut for a rifle load. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 2g3 

and experienced hunter, I gave him a history of the af- 
fair. He was of opinion that it was a Panther. He 
described their conduct in exact accordance with what 
I had heard on that night. He said that by scent it had 
gotten on my track, and was following me. He said 
that when I heard it breaking the brush or sticks under 
its feet, it was then scenting or smelling around in search 
of what it had looked for as its ]:»rey, and that when I 
halloed, it had squatted, ready for a jump. He stated 
that had I halloed once more, it would have sprung upon 
me instantly, but that I having sat so still afterwards, it 
became intimidated and ashamed or shy, and in the 
course of a while thereafter had sneaked softly and 
quietly away. 

From the place where I slept all night, I could not 
tell what course to steer. I climbed up into a tree, 
thinking that I might discover the road that passed by 
the tavern, but I was unable to see far in any direction 
on account of the great fog with which the w^hole forest 
was enveloped. I came down the tree again, and 
thought that my best plan would be to keep down the 
branch (spring rivulet,) for, as I thought it might run 
into the Schuylkill river, and by following the stream I 
might finally be able to get to a settlement, for I alto- 
gether despaired of being able to find my cabin. Upon 
a revjew of this design, I thought it would not do, as 
the rivulet, in its zigzag course, might run a hundred 
miles or more before it would (through deep creeks) 
empty itself into the Schuylkill. I travelled about for 
some considerable time, and could find no road, nor 
prospect of one. I then returned to the same place- 
where I had left in the morning. By this time the fog? 
began to break away, and I climbed up into the top of 
the same tree and looked eagerly in all directions, and 
thought I could see an opening or clear spot away in 
the distance upon the top of the mountain. I descend- 
ed from the tree and pushed on as hard as I could for 
the opening I had beheld, and found that it was the 
opening through which the road passed. Having found 
the road, I was now as much perplexed as ever^ for it 



284 ^ LIFE Off 

was near night, and I did not know which end of the 
road to take to enable me to reach the tavern. I reason- 
ed the matter closely in my own mind, and resolved toj 
take the end, which I did, thinking at the same time 
that if I missed the tavern I might find my cabin. After! 
concluding thus, I set out upon the run and heeled it as 
hard as I could, which I suppose was not at a very fast 
g;ait^ for I was almost exhausted with fatigue and for 
the want of food, having been now almost two days andi 
a night without any thing to eat. I happened to take 
the right end of the road, and found myself approaching 
the tavern just as it was getting dark. After recogniz- 
m^ it as the tavern in the opening in the wilderness as 
I approached, I was greatly rejoiced indeed. The 
family was very glad to see me, as they all believed from 
the first that I was lost, and feared that I would perish. 
The landlord asked me if I had heard the report of a 
gun. I told him that I had ; he then told me that 
the firing I had heard was done by himself, in order that 
I might have been enabled to find my way back again. 
I told him that I had done my best, and had ran as fast 
as I could to try to make for where 1 had heard the fir- 
ing, but could not do it. I then told him that I was 
very hungry. The womea hurried and prepared some 
victuals for me, and being very hungry, I ate as a starv- 
ing man, so greedily and so much, that they made me 
cease, telling me at the same time that I would injure 
myself, and make myself sick. If I had never thought 
so before, I thought it now, that victuals were worth the 
trouble at least of eating them. Next day I pushed 
on for my residence in the wilderness, and found upon 
my arrival that all was safe as when I had left it. Upon 
arriving, I fell to eating and continued to do so until I 
completely satisfied my appetite; after doing of which, 
I went out in search of my hogs, and found all doing 
well. In a few days after my return, the poor man^s 
two hogs which were lost, and which had also lost me, 
came back and joined themselves to the flock again. 
One night, sometime after I had returned, I cooked 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 285 

and ate my supper, and then retired to my pallet as 
j hearty and well as I had been at any time during my 
I stay previous. I may state too, that I slept soundly on 
jthat night. But when I awoke in the morning, I found 
I one of my legs drawn up so much that the heel of my 
I foot was almost touching my hip. I crawled up and 
I out of bed as well as I could, my leg drawn up as I have 
described. What to do, I knew not. I crawled about 
and prepared me a little breakfast. After I ate my 
breakfast, with the use of a stick or sticks in my hands, 
I hopped over the three hundred yards that laid between 
me and the road. This journey, short as it seemed, con- 
sumed a good while in accomplishing. I then sat down 
by the road side, in order to wait until some person 
would pass by. And as good luck would have it, (Pro- 
vidence 1 should state,) two persons from the neighbor- 
hood in which my employers lived, came along. These 
men had been up at a place called Cattawissa, and were 
then on their way home. They alighted from their 
horses and examined my leg,but they could not tell what 
was the matter with it. They said it was very strange, 
the way that I was affected. They could not say what 
was best to do, it appeared like a very great risk to re- 
main there in the wilderness by myself. I asked them 
if they would call upon some of my employers as soon 
as they should get home, and tell them of my situation, 
and that they should come and take me and the hogs 
home, as the hogs were already too fat. They pro- 
mised me that they would do this the first thing 
after getting home. They were as good as their word, 
for in the course of three, four or five days at most, 
my employers arrived at my mansion. By the time they 
came, I had some little use of my leg, and was able to 
hobble about with more ease to myself. We gathered 
all the hogs together, having the same number as at first, 
less two. One of these had got its back broken by 
the falling of a limb of a tree. The other was quite a 
small one, and was killed and ate by travellers, (as we 
supposed,) for we found the entrails lyin^ by the side of 
the road. 



286- <► LIFE OF 

We then commenced our zigzag march on our return 
home, leaving our ehesnut country, which exceeded any 
thing of the kind I had ever seen; for after a storm, I' 
could have gathered, or rather scraped them up by double 
handsful — leaving my pavilion for the wolves to billet in 
as their reward for the fine growling music they afforded 
during my stay in the neighborhood. We had to move 
very slow on our march homewards, in consequence of 
our hogs being so very fat; we arrived at home, and all 
safe in the course of five or six days. Being now at 
home, I set about to doctor myself, and in a short time^ 
recovered the perfect use of my \Qg again. I have neveri 
undertook such a jaunt and joh since, and I am quite: 
sure that I shall never undertake another such again. 

It is true, I was very happy in my lonely abode. Al- 
though very fond of a social life, yet there is something 
so exquisitely peaceful and happ)' in the true solitude ofi 
deep woods, that the soul becomes spell-bound, and! 
lingers in leaving; especially, %{> 

**In that sweet season, when the mountain siin. 

Prepares with joy his radiant course to run. 

Led hy the graces, and the dancing hours, 

And wakes to life the various race of flowers; 

Our eyes are ravished with the sylvan scene. 

Embroidered hills — venerable groves in living green, 

Such was the seat where courtly Horace sung, 

And his bold harp immortal Maro strung, 

Amid sequestered bowers near gliding streams, 

Druids and Bards enjo^-'d serenest dreams ; 

Even "lovely queens" forsake their '• shining" courts, 

"For rural scenes and healthful sylvan" sports." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Having in the preceding chapter informed my readers 
of my return to Poplar Neck. I now state, that I con- 
tinued to work at my trade (boot and shoe making) in 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEEST. 287 

this neighborhood for about four years. A portion of 
this time I lived in the family of a son of James Lewis, 
and in the mean time took me a wife. I married a young 
woman of the name of Elizabeth Ettzel, who was the 
daughter of a Swiss farmer. This woman bore me two 
children whilst I remained in the neighborhood, Henry, 
born 28th of June, 1788, and Sarah, born 21st of July, 
1790. 

In the spring of 1791, I removed with my family to 
WormellsdorfF, then Berks county, Pa., and took charge 
(as foreman) of a boot and shoe shop, belonging to 
Conrad Stouch, to whom I was brother-in-law. Here 
I remained about a year. Then upon advisement I pur- 
chased a lot of ground, built me a house and commenc- 
ed the Boot and Shoemaking business upon my own 
account. The people were better satisfied with my 
work, than they w^ere with the work done by Stoucb. 
This was the cause of my setting up the business for 
myself. 

Although the revolutionary war was ended, and the 
benign blessings of peace w^ere scattering themselves 
far and wide over the face of the country, yet with the 
end of the war, the patriotic spirit did not end — did not 
die. The young men of the infant Republic every where, 
were organizing themselves into volunteer military com- 
panies, with the patriotic and laudible desire of keeping 
securely that which had been gained at the expense of 
the blood and lives of so many of the patriotic brave — 
that had been gained by the father of his country, and 
his brave companions in arras in an eight year's war. 

The young men of Wormellsdorff, and adjoining coun- 
try fired with the same undying spirit of true patriotism, 
organized themselves into a volunteer company, and 
chose me for their Captain. In 1793, if my memo- 
ry serves me right. General Washington when President 
of the United States made a tour through the eastern 
part of Pennsylvania, passing through Reading, Lan- 
caster, Harrisburgh, Carlisle, Chambersburgh, &c. Af- 
ter leaving Reading, he came to Wormellsdorff where 



288 ^ LIFE or 

he stopped for the night. He ..^rived late in the evei 
ing, and put up at the public house of my brother-ii 
law, Stouch. Hearing that Washington had arrived, i 
ran around and collected about thirty of my men ani 
placed them under arms, each man having in accordant 
with my orders, provided himself with a powder-hoi 
containing powder enough to fire fifteen or twenl 
rounds, as a salute to President Washington, First Fi 
ther and Saviour of his country. By the time we wei 
in readiness it was nearly dusk. I had a capital Drua 
mer, but no Fifer, and I could not think of marchini 
my men to salute the great and good Washington, witll 
out having music as it should be. I resolved, that 
would play the Fife myself. I therefore sheathed mi 
sword, appointed my First Lieutenant Captain, in par; 
and myself Fifer pro tern. 1 then placed myself by thl 
,side of my Drummer, on the right of my company.— 
When matters were thus arranged, we marched up t 
Stouch's Hotel, then the quarters of President Waslil 
ington, and drew up in line in front of the house, 
then brought my men to an order, and as soon as Pi'es 
ident Washington appeared at the door of the Hotel, i 
quickly commanded my men to shoulder arms, and thes 
ordered them to present arms. I then had to assist thl 
Drummer (by playing the tune on the fife for him,) t 
beat the appropriate salute. It was common in thosi 
days, and I believe it is still done, when beating th 
salute, for the ensign or flag-bearer to wave the flag a 
certain rolls of the drum. By tiie time that the musics 
salute was ended, President Washington had gained 
position on the steps in front of the door of the Hotel' 
He then asked for (or who was) the Captain of th i' 
company. I drew my sword, and stepped toward |* 
him and saluted him with the usual salute of the sword;t 
I then stepped up to him and with my sword in one han( j 
and my Fife in the other, observed to him as follows — Sii 
I am both Captain and Fifer. I have a good Drummer sir 
-but no Fifer, and could not think of tendering military honi 
ors to you in a patched up or lame way, and concluded ij 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



2m 




25 



290 • LIFE OF 

the absence of a Fifer to play the Fife myself — and told 
him my name was Dewees. Washington smiled and said, 
" Captain Dewees yau have been in the Revolutionary t 
war,^^ Yes, sir, said I. He then said, "yow have play- 
ed thejife during the war.^^ I told him that I had, he 
said that he knew by the tunes we had played, and by, 
the manner in which they were played that I had been 
in the Continental service. He then complimented me 
upon my having sacrificed my station (that of Captain,) 
to gratify his ear w^ith the well to be remembered airs 
so often heard during the Revolution in the camps of. 
his country. He then observed " Captain Dewees you 
are disposed to pay great respect to me, for which I am 
extremely obliged to you as also to the officers and men 
composing your company * But there has been so much' 
respect paid to me on my whole route, at Reading, espec- 
ially, that Ifrel rather unpleasant when in the receipt qfi 
it, I know, sir, that it is earnestly done. Although I havei 
not done less than any man, I have always tried to servei\ 
my country foithfully , fiarlessly and nobly, whether when\ 
in the field or out of it and in doing this, I have but donei 
my duty to my country and countrymen, posterity and to 
my God. Still, sir, I dont wish to damp your patriotic ar- 
dour, nor the patriotic ardour of a single member of your 
company. J\^or am I to be understood, sir, as wishing, 
to damp the generous and patriotic feelings of the men 
and women, citizens of Wormellsdorff, now present as 
spectators, nor do I wish, Captain Dewees, to be viewed 
as despising your tender of honors. JYor do I wish you, 
sir, to understand me as as forbidding you to fire a salute ^ 
but I would respectfully request that it may be dispensed 
with, and if it will be agreeable to you and your men, 
that^ of granting my request, I hope that a salute will 
not be fired.^'' I replied, "General Washington, if it is 
your desire that we shall not fire a salute, there shall 
not be a gun fired." I then addressed myself to my 

♦"He had been informed by the landlord that preparations were making tc 
fire fifteen or twenty rounds, as a salute at the door of the Hotel at which 
lie then stopped. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 291 

men and stated that not a man would be permitted to 
fire a gun. 

President Washington then requested me to march 
my men into the house. I did so. He then ordered 
diflferent kinds of liquor to be set out, and invited us to 
partake with him, of whatever kinds of liquor we should 
choose to drink. I then asked my men to come for- 
ward and partake of the President's treaty and observed, 
that they should take a civil drink, and for each, to do 
so, in a quiet and respectful manner. After all had 
drank, I gave them strict orders also, that no man should 
behave in an uncivil, rude or noisy manner; that we 
had called, out of respect, to tender respect and honors 
to his Excellency the President, and all things should 
now be conducted in a respectful and quiet manner. — 
The President told the landlord to charge the liquor he had 
ordered to his bill, thanked us in a kind manner for the 
honors we had done him, bowed to us, bade us good 
night and then retired to his room. I do not pretend 
to state, that the President's language was in the precise 
words I have used, but it was tantamount thereto. 

As soon as the President retired, I then ordered my 
Drummer and I may add myself (for I assisted) to beat 
up the long roll^, this done, the men paraded at their 
posts and formed ranks immediately. We then march- 
ed down to the lower tavern, in Wormellsdorff, kept 
by Wierech Seltzer, where we enjoyed ourselves in danc- 
ing awhile. We dispersed (I suppose) at a late hour, 
but the orders which I gave, that mirth and sociability 
should reign throughout the evening, were most happily 
obeyed. Nothing transpired to (not even the President's 
wish as regarded a salute, this of itself was not a disap- 
pointment for he was a lover of quiet, and every man 
yielded spontaneously what he so anxiouly desired) 
mar the patriotic pleasure which each member of my 
company set out determined to enjoy. 



292 • LIFE OF 

**Bold chief, who stood nobly, oa freedom's towering heigjh'tj "^ 
Battling fearlessly with Heaven's foes in gigantic might, 
Battling with implacable — cruel foe& of man 
Throughout^ even from when freedom's patriot war began. 

Thou, all hail, first father of pure liberty here. 

Liberty ! nought in thy heart was ever prized more dear,. 

Liberty! its brightest halo around thee is shed, 

Liberty's laurel wreath still encircles a Washingion's head. 

Liberty's loud paeans bear upwards thy praise. 
Liberty's echo responds, loud and high let it raise. 
Liberty's sons will stand faithful and firm to their chiefj 
In valley, on hill, plain, steep rock and reef. 

Liberty's sweetest daugliters all, all, to thee we shall bring, 
Liberty's sweetest daughters, in gratitude softly shall sing' '. j i] 

Liberty's loftiest chief's praises, — Columbia's noble son, — 
Our virtuous executive chief, noble George Washington. 



As Liberty's pare streams shall flow over all lands. 
Liberty's bold echo shall spurn, all tyrants commands; 
Liberty's loud response from setting to rising of sun, 
Liberty shall he, God, Truth and George Washington." 

/. S, Hanna, , 

Whilst I lived ia this place (WorraellsdorfF,) I went 
up to Seelin's Grove and from thence I rode out to 
Sunbury, Pa. I had an acquaintance living beyond 
Seelin's Grove, of the name of Himmelbriech, whom I 
called to see. Whilst I halted at his house, he proffer- 
ed to conduct me to an Indian mound that was in his 
neighborhood. I went with him to look at it. Its width, 
at its base was about fifty feet. This mound was as 
round as a charcoal pit^ and something in shape like to a 
sugar loaf. Its height was from fifteen to twenty feet 
and was flat or level on top. There was a tree stood 
upon the top about sixteen inches thick at the butt. — 
This tree was dead. The top and perpendicular or rath- 
er conical surface of this mound, was overgrown with 
briars or blackburry bushes. It yielded a fine crop of 
berries that season. The bushes were covered with. 



CAPTAuIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 293 

them. The berries were ripe and very delicious, and I 
partook heartily of them. This mound must have con- 
Itained a great number of Indian bodies. This could 
jbe discovered by forcing a stick into it, some little dis- 
tance, and thereby breaking ofFsome of its side, jaw and 
other bones could be seen. 1 recollect that some of the 
jaw-bones I saw, were filled with teeth that appeared to 
be very sound. Himmelbriech stated to me, that if I 
could spare the time to do it, he would conduct me to 
another, about a mile farther down the valley, and which 
(he said) was a much larger one than the one I have 
described. The tradition (he said) in that country was, 
that one nation of Indians had fallen upon another one, 
and pursued it to the grounds adjacent to these mounds, 
that there they had a horrible battle, the pursuing nation 
cutting off the pursued one totally, and that those of one 
nation had been buried in one of these mounds, and those 
of the other nation in the other mound. Both of these 
mounds had once been much wider and higher than they 
were at the time I beheld the one I here describe. It is 
reasonable to suppose this, for heavy rains, snows and 
freezings for a great number of years would in time great- 
ly reduce the diameter as well as the height of both. 



CHAPTER XX. 

In the fall of 1793, I disposed of ray house and lot in 
Wormellsdorff, and in the spring of 1794, I removed 
my family to Harrisburg, Pa. I was not long at Har- 
risburg until it became known to some of the leading 
men there, that I could play the fife. Lawyers Fisher, 
Dentzell, Elder and a store keeper of the nameof Reit- 
zell and others of the citizens, were engaged in raising 
and organizing a volunteer military company. Lawyer 
Fisher was elected Captain, Lawyer Dentzell, Ensign, 
Reitzell, First Lieutenant, and Secoad Lieu- 



294 ' LIFE OF 

tenant. The company was a large one, and each mem- 
ber uniformed and equipped himself in handsome style. 
Captain Fisher found out the residence of a Drummer, 
of the name of Warriour, who then lived some two or: 
three miles from Harrisburg. Warriour had been a 
British Brum-Major, but had at an early stage of 
the Revolutionary struggle, deserted from the British 
and joined himself to the Continental army and had beat 
the drum for it until the end of the war. Warriour was 
chosen Drum-Major in Captain Fisher's company, andl 
I was chosen Fife-Major. Warriour was decidedly the 
best Drummer that I ever had seen or heard beat, during 
the Revolution. His music was not of the loudest kind, , 
but it was sharp, clear, well-timed and rich in its spirit- 
stirring melodies^. 

About this time an insurrection broke out into an opei>i 
rebellion in the western counties of Pennsylvania. - i 

"The tax which had been imposed upon spirits dis-' 
tilled within the country, bearing heavily upon the 
people in the western counties of Pennsylvania, produc- ■ 
ed there disaffection and disturbance. All excise taxes, , 
of which this was one, being considered hostile to Lib- 
erty ; great exertions were made to excite the public 
resentment against those who should w^illingly pay it, , 
and especially against the officers appointed to collect 
it. In September, 1791, a large meeting of malcon- 
tents was held at Pittsburg, at which resolutions, en- 
couraging resistance to the laws, were passed ; and sub- 
sequently other meetings were held, at which similar 
resolutions were adopted. Committees of correspon- 
dence were also^ appointed to give unity of system to 
their measures, and to increase the number of their as- 
sociates." Hale^s United States, page 214: verse Alth, 

A tremendous meeting of the insurgents was held at 
Braddock's fields. They marched to and from there 
in organized companies, and with music and every dem- 
onstration of martial pomp. 

About this time the insurrection was causing a great 
alarm thraughout the country. President Washingtoa 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 295 

had issued his proclamation, but it was not regarded. 
Captain Fisher's company, in order to be prepared for 
an emergency, paraded every Monday and Saturday, 
and spent a long lime each day in drilling themselves. 
Warriour, our Drum-Major, acted as Fugleman to the 
company. I had seen many a Fugleman previous, but 
none that I had ever seen upon that duty excelled him 
therein. He could toss and whirl his musket in any 
shape or direction he chose and as high he chose. — ■ 
In the midst, however, of all his perfections as Drum- 
mer and Fugleman J he was like to many another bright ge- 
nius, he had one fault, among faults, he could at no 
time (of himself) guard himself (if at all within his reach) 
against taking a too hearty drink. For my own part I 
can state, 1 have always used liquor and when I had it 
most at will throughout all my services in the Revolution 
(thanks be to him who gave me the power,) I was al- 
ways able to use it in such a manner as not to abuse 
myself with it. T may have been somewhat overcome 
with it at times, but never from excessive fondness for 
it, but from being in company and becoming a little for- 
getful. I have always (and do now) believe its injury 
to be in the abuse of its use, and not in its use. I know 
that it has been as a sovereign remedy with myself in 
very many particular instances. I am now (as I always 
have been and intend to be) in the habit of keeping 
liquor in my house. I intend to use it in a proper 
manner as long as a glorious Master, the author all glo- 
rious of all Freedom, shall bless me with life from his 
bountiful hands ; I state for myself. As for myself, I will 
never trifle with my sacred treasure. I never shall sac- 
rifice my Freedom, nor trample my own services and 
sufferings as a soldier, nor my Liberty under my ie^i, 
nor trample underfoot the blood of the martyrs of Free- 
dom shed profusely and freely, in defence of the eternal 
Liberties, Freedom and Independence of the immaculate 
God of Liberty. 

Captain Fisher's company of volunteers organized 
in Harrisburg, was composed of the most patriotic, ia» 



296 , • LIFE OF 

telligent, respectable and wealthy young men of the town 
and vicinity, and prided themselves very much in exer- 
cising and perfecting themselves in the school of the 
soldier. When there were any (it is always the case in t 
the formation of new companies) of the members slow 
in learning [heir facings and that could not handle their 
muskets, and manceavre as well as others, or that were 
awkward in their file or platoon marchings, steppingSj 
wheelings &c. These would be detached from the com- 
pany, and to every squad of four men, one well, or bet- 
ter versed in military knowledge than themselves, would 
be detached with them to teach them. These would 
march to the distance of eight or ten rods from the 
company and there be schooled by their appointed, 
military instructors. 

As the formation of an ^^awkumrd squad,^^ (as it was 
always called,) was a habit throughout the Revolution, 
Warriour and myself advised its adoption by Captain 
Fisher, and it was not long before it was acknowledged 
to be a superior method of conducting the school of the 
soldier. Captain Fisher on parade days always request- 
ed me to have an eye to Warriour-— 'to act in the capacity 
of guardian to him, and if possible, to keep him from 
taking too hearty a glass. I always strove to obey him 
in this, and satisfy his wishes. Sometimes when War- 
riour would not hearken well enough to my counsels, he 
would make a stagger occasionally. I would say ta 
him in a plain good humored way : "Warriour you are 
drunk now, you must not drink any more for awhile ; if 
you do. Captain Fisher will be very much mortified, for 
you will be staggering wherever we march to." As 
soon as we would march and beat around to Captain 
Fisher's, Warriour was sure to lodge his complaint 
against me to the Captain, saying " Captain, what do 
you think, Sammy says I am drunk." The Captain 
and myself understood each other. The Captain would 
laugh and say " Why Sammy, Warriour is not drunk, 
why what do you mean? I think he is very cautious 
to-day. He is going to da us all honor,^ as well as him- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 297 

self to-day," &c. &c. He believed the Captam alto- 
gether sincere in what he said. The Captain's sooth- 
ing manner towards him, and seeming upbraiding of my- 
self, stimulated him to a more temperate use of liquor 
throughout the day, and had a far better effect than harsh 
upbraiding would have had. 

" The insurrectionary spirit in the western part of Penn- 
sylvania, north-western part of Virginia, and north-wes- 
tern part of Maryland, burst into a blaze and burned 
tremendously. It broke forth into a most daring revolt. 
The people were determined to resist the laws at all 
hazards. They attacked the house of the Collector or 
Inspector of the excise, who having received a small re- 
inforcement from the Fort at Pittsbugh, defended him- 
self resolutely for a short time against five hundred in- 
surgents, having caused them to retreat for a time.— 
They fired the buildings. Major Kirkpatrick, the com- 
mander of a small number of regulars, marched out of 
the building and surrendered. The inspector succeed- 
ed in getting out of the house unperceived by the insur- 
gents, and effected his escape. The Chief Marshall, 
when executing the duties of his office, that of serving- 
processes upon the open and acting insurgents, and upon 
a number of distillers that refused to comply with the 
requisitions of the law, was fired at, but fortunately es- 
caped injury. He was captured, but upon his pledging 
himself not to serve any more processes west of the Al- 
leghany mountain, he was released. Ho, with the Col- 
lector and others were forced to abandon the country 
precipitately. 

Whilst these scenes were enacting. President Wash- 
ington was concentrating an army at Carlisle, (distant 
eighteen miles from Harrisburg,) and at in Vir- 
ginia, for the purpose of quelling this insurrection. The 
President had sought to restore order, and bring about 
a proper submission to the laws through the insirumen- 
tality of every other possible conciliatory means, but 
bold threats of defiance were openly made, and no course 
was left hirn but to employ a strong military force and 



.2yS . LIFE OF 

march to this scene of resistance to the General Go-f 
vernment." — Hannahs Glory of Columbia, 

Captain Fisher's volunteer company was called on, 
and it volunteered to a man, for the purpose going in the 
proposed expedition. It still remained, however, at Har- 
risburg until the time that the concentrated army of the 
east was about to move on from Carlisle westward. 

During our stay at Harrisburg, there were a number 
of companies passed through that place on their way to 
Carlisle. I have gone out a mile or two often to play, 
in escort, for companies coming in. I played the Fife 
for one company that came from Lancaster, commanded 
by Captain Keims, with whom I was very well acquaint- 
ed. I played one or two (and perhaps more) companies 
in, that came from Philadelphia, and some from Jersey. 

At the time the British had possession of New York, 
during the Revolutionary war, a Drummer of the name:; 
of Martin Benner, deserted from the American lines and! 
joined the British. The American army laid on the op-- 
posite side of the Hudson from New York, or on the; 
Brooklyn side. As soon as it was ascertained that he; 
had deserted, a number of soldiers were despatched after^ 
him, v^ith orders to bring him back " dead or alive.'^^' 
Being closely pursued, he plunged into the river, andl 
commenced to swim across. The soldiers fired uponi 
him without a single shot taking effect. Some of the; 
soldiers that shot at him, told me that thay had taken i 
deliberate aim at him, as they had been ordered to do, 
in case he should not halt. He was a great swimmer, 
and could swim upon his back as fast as he pleased. — 
The moment he beheld the flash of their guns he would 
dive like a loo)i, and by his dodging in this way, he was 
enabled to gain the opposite side of the riyer in safety, 
and joined the British standard. Drum Majors have 
told me that there was not a better Drummer in the 
American army, and that he could beat the Iqudest drum 
of any musician they had ever heard beat. He was then 
a young man, very stout, active and strong. 

One day I was sent for to play a company of regular 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 299 

loldiers into Harrisburg, that was on its way to join 
Wayne's army in the West. The Fifer of this company 
[ think had fallen sick. When I went out to where the 
company had halted, who does the reader imagine I 
:bund the Drummer of this company to be? It was none 
Dther than Martin Benner, who was then an enlisted 
soldier in the United States' army. When I first met 
bim, I observed to him that I certainly knew his face, 
and asked him if he had not been in the regular service 
during the Revolutionary war. He told me he had, and 
asked me if I had ever known a Drummer at West Point 
of the name of Martin Benner. I told him I had known 
him very well, and observed you are he. He said he 
was. He then asked me not to say any thing about 
himj saying it is all over now. I promised him that I 
would not. He was going against the Indians, and I 
supposed could not do any injury to the army to which 
he was about to be attached. Taking this view of his 
case, I made myself the more easy or indifferent about 
him. But had we been at war with Great Britain, I 
would have forgotten old acquaintanceship, and would 
have informed upon him very soon, and would have had 
him taken up and dealt with in accordance with the laws 
of my country. 

There was a company of Light Horsemen came into 
Harrisburg from Philadelphia and made a halt for a few 
days. There was a member of this company that was 
very much troubled in mind, and when the company 
moved on to Carlisle it left him behind at Bumbach's in 
Harrisburg, then a tavern kept by Boyer. This Light 
Horseman had his horse with him and hung about there 
for several days, until the fatal circumstance transpired 
which I am about to relate. I had an acquaintance by 
the name of Youse in Harrisburg, who called at my house 
about sun up one morning, and asked me to go over to 
Boyers and take a glass of bitters. I stepped over with 
him and after we had taken our drink we sat down in 
the bar-room. Whilst setting there in conversation, the 
Light Horseman came in and called for a glass of liquor. 



300 ..LIFE OF 

After he drank his glass he stepped out of the room into 
the entry and entered a back parlor on the opposite side 
of the entry from the bar-room and closed the door after 
him. It being early in the morning, the window shut- 
ters were still closed. In a very few minutes after he 
left the bar-room we heard a very great noise. Youse 
jumped up, and exclaimed aloud " what is that," "I be- 
lieve the back sheds have all fallen down." We all 
started to run out back, by passing through the entry. — 
Whether it was, that smoke came out at the parlor door 
and that caused Youse to stop and open it, I do not recol- 
lect, but upon his opening it the room w^as discovered to 
be full of smoke, Youse rushed in for the purpose of 
opening the back shutters, but had not proceeded far 
through the smoke and darkness of the room until he.; 
stumbled over the dead body of the Light Horsemaq.;., 
who it w^as discovered (as soon as the light of day was 
thrown into the room,) had blown his own brains out./ 
He w^as a gun-smith by trade and had made his owii , 
pistols. These he had charged heavily. It was sup-, 
posed (and no doubt justly) that he had held the ipuz^liS- 
of one pistol to one side of his head, and the muzzle of 
the other to the other side, and had discharged them 
both at the same instant. By this arrangement he had 
blown off the whole of the upper part of his head, and 
his blood and brains were scattered upon the ceiling and 
upon the floor in every direction. My readers may im- 
agine, what the loads w'ere lik^e, when I state that the 
pistols had been thrown from his hands in opp.osite di- 
rections and with such violence against the walls as to 
break the cock from ofT one, and making quite an indent 
in the wall at the same time, and to dig a hole out of 
the wall when the .other pistol struek against it. 

W^e buried him on the hill, not far from where the 
capitol now stands. I think we did not bury him wdth 
the honors of w ar. I recollect however, that we placed 
his pistols crossways and his sword lengthways across 
thera upon his coffin, and above or over his breast.— 
From papers found upon his person his name w^s ph' 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 301 

tained. His horse, clothing, &c were sent in the course 
of a few days thereafter to his wife at Philadelphia. — 
The person sent with them, found upon his arrival at 
Philadelphia, that upon the same morning and about the 
same hour this Light Horseman's wilie had committed 
suicide also by drowning, she having thrown herself into 
the Delaware river at Market street wharf. 

This singularly horrid tragedy in two acts, the scene 
of one laid in Harrisburg and the other at Philadelphia, 
with the distance of one hundred miles intervening be- 
tween, and both performed in one and the same hour, 
made a deep impression upon the minds of all hearing 
thereof and was for a time as all other horrid affairs are, 
the whole talk among all classes. 

It appeared (from a letter or papers in his possession 
or from information otherwise obtained,) that he had 
volunteered against the will of his wife who was much 
opposed to his joining in the expedition. This troubled 
him very much, and the farther he went from his home, 
the more it appeared had he been troubled and harrass- 
ed by it. On the other hand, it appeared that the farther 
he went from home, the more had his wife become troub- 
led in mind until both had resolved on ending their own 
lives, which they did do, and rushed uncalled for into 
the presence of an angry God. " Oh ! the thought, how 
horrible it is, when indulged in, — that of rushing uncal- 
led for into the presence of angry God. Ye living, 
that are, or that may be goaded on by the tempter, can 
ye not summon resolution enough, to enable you to trust 
yourselves in the hands of a just God — that Glorious Be- 
ing with whom your existence began. Can ye not trust 
him whose arm can be made bare to save— whose arm 
has been made bare to save, and whose arm he will 
make bare to save in the sad hours of deep trouble, pro- 
portionate io the faith and trust of the possessor, can ye 
not confide in him and ^'live 'til to-morrow," to "the 
darkest day will have passed away." " Beware" then 
" of desperate steps." The sum and substance of which 
counsel is this, confide in the strong arm of the Most 
26 



S02 ,LIF£ OF 

High God, until the tempter shall flee away, and then 
ye shall be free. If Christ the good Shepherd shall 
make you free, you shall be Free indeed. Pause ! Re- 
flect, Agonize in faithful prayer to him who cannot, (as 
he will not) turn a deaf ear to the voice of your plaint, 
or turn you empty away. His promise is an ample guar- 
antee to you and is all sufficient of itself to beget a full 
confidence -within you towards him who cannot and that 
will not lie." — Hannahs Glory of Columbia. 

Captain Fisher's company being about to move on to 
Carlisle, I then broke up house-keeping. This was in 
consequence of the ill health of my wife, who at this 
time was rather sickly owing to her late confinement and 
the death of her infant. I put ray household goods into 
the house of a French Barber of the name of Rongee,, 
who accompanied us in the expedition to Pittsburg, I 
then sent my wife off by stage to her fathers, or at least 
by stage to Reading w^hich was within three miles of her 
fathers. 

Previous to our marching, His Excellency Thomas 
Mifllin, Governor of Pennsylvania, arrived from his farm 
near Reading and paid to each man in the corps, the 
sum of six dollars. This sum, each man was to leave 
with his family. Whether this was out of his own priv» 
ate purse, or on account of the State of Pennsylvania I 
do not know, but I recollect that it was said at the time 
that the Governor had made a present of six dollars to 
every man for the purpose above stated. 

Captain Fisher received orders for his company lo 
march on to Carlisle. We all got in readiness, paraded 
through the principal streets of Harrisburg, and then 
marched for Carlisle. When we left Harrisburg, we 
crossed over the Susquehanna river inj^a^s.* The banks 
of the river on the town side were covered with women 
and children, and there were great w^eeping and mourn- 
ing indeed. Our country called, and duty was clearly 
spread out before our eyes ; we had therefore to steel o\xv 

*A kind of boats 20 or 30 feet long aud 10 or 12 feet wide, with sides a 

foot 4ud a lialf or two feet high. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 303 

hearts against the cries of mothers and children, and 
brave up against the tide of weeping and wailing, by 
playing and beating up merrily ** Charley over the 
water." This, we continued to do until Harrisburg 
was partly lost in the distance behind us. 

As my readers' tastes are as varied as a soldier's life, 
and a soldier's tastes and life as varied as the tastes of 
my readers, I must indulge a possessed spirit of levity 
upon the part of some of my readers, and amuse them 
occasionally. Those especially that are not too hide- 
bound to engage in a good laugh once and again. — 
Gravity proper, all will (or ought to) acknowledge is 
very becoming, but the personification of it unaccom- 
panied by the reality, is not only immoral in itself, but 
irreligious. The wise man has said that there is a time 
for all things — a time to laugh as well as a time to 
weep. Taking this view, then, I do not apprehend that 
indulging in a laugh is as unpardonable a crime as some 
pharasaical persons would fain make people believe it to 
be. Cheerfulness is a very sacred bond in life. Cheer- 
fulness will propel, when a frown is powerless. Cheer- 
fulness is by no means sinful, and a hearty laugh, when 
occasions provoke to good humor, dont constitute a 
person as much of a strait out m the bonds of iniquity 
as want of charity, backbiting, slandering, cheating — 
exacting exorbitant prices, established through the in- 
strumentality of lyings which is cheating in the worst 
sense, and falls within a pale other than that which is a 
right one. To profess the name of the only Messiah 
at the very horns of the altar, and do these, is by far, 
more injurious to the well being of society, and by far 
more staining to the soul than a hearty laugh is at any time. 
About midway between Harrisburg and Carlisle, we 
pushed upon a lot of very fine hogs, belonging to some 
of the farmers near by. The hogs becoming scared 
threw off the reins of self-government, throwing them- 
selves upon their own resources (heels) in an emergency, 
and dashed first one way and then another. Some try- 
ing to run round the soldiers on both sides of the 
road, whilst others opened lanes for themselves by run- 



304 LIFE OF 

ning in a zigzag manner through the troops, which gave, 
way on their approach. One there was, however, a 
very large, wild Germany hoar kind of a chap, one alto- 
gether worthy of a generalship among the race of pork- 
ers, that threw himself upon his own adventurous spirit, 
agility, strength and heels. This fellow came direct to 
the charge, turning neither 1o the right hand or to the 
left. He dashed headlong amongst us, accompanied 
with his musical booch, booch, booch, and happening to 
run between the legs of a stout bodied, but short and 
bandy-legged little member of the company, he lifted him 
(the soldier) instantly from off his feet, and ran away 
with him. As he was borne along (musket, knapsack 
and all,) with great rapidity, it was a thing altogether 
impossible for our little soldier to turn himself in his 
saddle, and had therefore to content himself in riding 
with his face towards the hogs tail, instead of towards 
his head. This raised a fine laugh, but a much better 
or greater one was in reserve by Mr. Porker^ and to be 
enjoyed at the expense of our little soldier, for after car- 
rying him some distance, he plunged with him on his 
back into a deep mud-hole, carrying him pretty nearly 
into the middle of it, and then in his rearing and pitch- 
ing efforts to £^0 ahead, threw his military rider over his 
rump, upon the broad of his back all fours into the mud 
and water. 

This piece of hog drollery afforded us fine sport, and 
was well enjoyed by us, although we had gravity pretty 
well seated upon our countenances, in consequence of 
our having so lately left our home's and our friends be- 
hind us. If it afforded us a lot of fun, it was enjoyed 
at Tommy Thumb^s expense. Tommy, who often there- 
after had to bear the jestings of his brother soldiers upon 
the subject. He was often inquired at if he did not 
wish to meet a drove of hogs, or if he did not want a 
ride, — a saddle, bridle and spurs, to enable him to have 
a hog gallop, &c. Sometimes when plagued about it, 
he became very much displeased, and wished that the 
devil would again ^o into the hogs, and drown them all 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 305 

in the sea, and sometimes he would join heartily in the 
laugh against himself. All being provided with a change 
of clothing, the little fellow's appearance, was soon 
changed by a change of apparel, (as was our own also,) 
for when we found ourselves nearing Carlisle, every man 
uniformed himself afresh by putting on clean clothing, 
in accordance with the orders received. 

Upon our arrival at Carlisle, we pitched our tents upon 
the "commons" beyond the "spring," and very soon 
after the camp was formed, ten or twelve men were de- 
tached from our company to join General Washington's 
Quarter-Guard, President Washington had arrived but 
that day or the day previous at Carlisle, he had been 
there, however, several times previous to our marching 
thither. Warriour and myself played the detached por- 
tion of our company up to the Court House, where the 
General's Quarter-Guard was stationed, and then return- 
ed to camp. 

In a few days after our arrival at Carlisle, President 
Washington issued his orders for all to be in readiness 
to march. On the next or on the second day thereafter, 
in the morning, we were ordered to beat up the " Gen- 
eral." This was a signal tune. As soon as we would 
commence to play it, all the men would set themselves 
about pulling up the tent pins, and arranging matters for 
a general strike. At a certain roll in this tune (called 
the General) all things being in readiness, the tents 
would be all thrown down in one direction and all fall 
at once, in the same moment or as nearly so as could be 
done. This done, some of the soldiers would then en- 
gage in rolling them up, whilst others would carry them 
to the wagons and pack them, camp-kettles, &c. &c. 
therein. For the amusement and use of my young read- 
ers I will here insert a part of two old verses, (now re- 
collected,) which was set to the tune of the General : 

•'Come brave boys, it is almost day, 
Strike your tents and march away." 

•' Dont 3"0U hear the General say, 
Strike your tents and march away." 

26* 



306 LIFE OF 

During the Revolutionary war I have seen all forms 
dispensed \vith, when upon the march ; I have often 
known that in less than an hour after we have pitched*] 
our tents or formed our camp, and before we could pro--!' 
vide a morsel of something for ourselves to eat, hungry 
and worn down too, with fatigue at the same time, we 
have had to beat up the " General.'' At such a time as 
this, a herald would be seen flying on horseback through 
our camp, urging all to diligence in striking of tents and( 
packing them up; this, without any regard being paid tO) 
ceremony, and then we would have to be off at what is;' 
called ''a forced march." This, when intelligence;! 
would arrive to us, that the British were within a few^ 
miles, and were advancing upon us — this, when we were ■ 
few in number, compared with our adversary, and there- 
fore not prepared to give him battle. 

After we had beaten up the General, our tents were 
all struck to the ground, at the signal, rolled up and 
they with all other camp equipage packed away in our 
baggage-wagons. When this task was accomplished 
the long roll was then beat up, and all formed into a 
line. 1 he army then formed by regiments into march- 
ing order, then marched and formed the line in the main 
street of Carlisle. The regiment to which Captain Fish- 
er's company was attached, was formed in the main line 
of regiments and upon the right of that line. Captain 
Fisher's company occupying the right of that regiment 
constituted the extreme right of the entire line, and rest- 
ed in the main street opposite the Court-house. The 
rear of the main column orline rested at a great distance 
from town on the old Philadelphia road, and beyond the 
"Gallows ground." 

This line, besides being formed, preparatory to tht 
march, was also established for the purpose of paissing 
the review. All the officers were at their posts in front 
of the line in order to receive and salute tlte Command- 
er-in-Chief and suite. 



♦Pitching tents is putting theai up in the formJ|tion of acamp, and strik- 
^)^t,Uena is to throw thcin down when, brc:»kii>g up an eiicampinPQt. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 



50t 



President Washington, the Governors (of states) then 
at Carlisle, formed at the head of the line. The brigade 
and field officers that accompanied the President and 
Governors, took their positions in that line preparatory 
to the review. 

All things being in readiness, the President and suite 
moved on to a review of the trooj)S. The method of sa- 
lute w^aSj each regiment as the Commander-in-Chief and 
suite drew near, was ordered to "present arms" Field 
officers, Captains, Lieutenants, &c., in line in advance 
of the troops saluted by bringing the hilts of their swords 
to their faces and then throwing the points of their swords 
towards the ground at some little distance from their 
bodies on their right side. The musicians at the same 
time playing and beating a salute. The flag bearers at 
a certain roll of the drum would also salute by waving 
their colours to and fro. The musicians in this grand 
line of military, varied very much, in their salutes. — 
Some Drummers no doubt knew what tune was a salute, 
and could have beaten it w^ell, but their Fifers could not 
play it, and some Fifers knew how to play it, but their 
Drummers could not beat it. An acquaintance of mine 
of thf^ \ ;rae of Shipe w^ho played the Fife for a company, 
^' .m Philadelphia could have played it, and well too, 
(for many a time w^e had played it together during the 
Revolution,) but his Drummer knew^ nothing about it. 
Some musicians played and beat one thing and some 
another. One Fifer I recollect (within hearing distance 
of us,) played Yankee Doodle, and his Drummer no 
doubt beat it well too, but it was not a salute. 

When President Washington and his suite arrived at 
our regiment, I struck up and Warriour beat "the old 
British Grenadier^s March," which was always the miisic 
played and beat, and offered to a superior officer as a 
salute during the revolutionary war. This tune had a 
great many flams and rolls to it. President Washings 
ton eyed us keenly, as he was passing us and continued 
to do so, even whea he had passed to some distance 
from us^ 



308 LIFE OF 

After this duty was performed, upon the part of the ! 
soldiery, President Washington in conversation with 
the ofhcers, asked Captain Fisher if his musicians (War- 
riour and myself) had not been in the Continental ser- | 
vice, during the Revolution. Captain Fisher informed 
him that we had been ; upon which the President replied 
that he had thought so, from the manner of playing and i 
beating, and observed that we performed the best of any 
in the army, and were the only musicians that played 
and beat the old (or usual) Revolutionary salute, which he 
said was as well played and beat as he had ever heard 
it during the Revolution. Captain Fisher was very proud 
of our having so far excelled as to obtain the just praise 
of the President, and said to us upon his return, "Boys 
you have received the praise of President Washington 
to-day for having excelled all of the musicians in the 
line in playing and beating up Washington's favorite 
revolutionary salute, for he says, not a musician in the 
whole army has played it to-day but yourselves," If 
Captain Fisher was proud of Washington's commenda- 
tion of us, my readers may judge that we were not less 
proud of it than himself. 

The troops of New Jersey and Pennsylvania were 
directed to rendezvous at Bedford,* (Pa.,) and those^ 
of Maryland and Virginia at Cumberland, (Md.,) on the 
Potomac. The command of the expedition had been 
conferred on Governor Lee of Virginia ; and the Gov- 
ernors of New Jersey and Pennsylvania commanded 
the militia of their respective states under him." 



*Thcse were ibe general orders issued from the war department, but ow- 
ing to delays unavoidable and always attendant on the concentration of an 
army, the troops of New Jersey and Pennsylvania laid a much longer time 
at Carlisle than they did at Bedford. Nothing is remembered relative to 
that portion rendezvousing at Cumberland, or as to where the junction of 
these two armies took place, whether before or after reaching Pittsburg, but 
from the circumstance of portions of our army having been reorganized at 
Bedford when we arrived, I am of opinion that the junction took place at 
Bedford. 



CAPTAnr SAXTTEL DE^W^E3. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



In the coarse of an hour or two after the tr- ■ " " 
been reviewed bj President Washington at Caiv .: 

order of' forward," was given. The whole arniT raen 
took ap its tine of march westward^ and in the evening 
o( that daj it reached *^' Mo ant Rock''' and encamped^ 
This place was a!ioat seven miles from Carfisie. The 
next day we passed thronsrh Shippensburg and readied 
Strawsbarcf at the foot of the raoantain where we en- 
camped. I do not recollect whether we remained at 
this place longer than a night or not, bat thrnk that we 
were a dsj and two nights encamped there be'"^- '•^ -^e be- 
gan to ascend the monntain. 

I remember th.it whilst we were at Strawsb': -g, a mem- 
ber af one of the Philadelphia companies stole a hog- 
from a farmer. I cannot recollect, however, whether it 
was a living one, or a 'dead one, bat believe it was a 
batchered one, .' Complaint was lodgred against him, he 
was arrested and placed nnder gnard, in wiiich sitaatioii 
he remained antil after we reached Bedford. 

We broke ap oar encampment at Straws-bar^, and set 
©at upon the march ap the moantain. It is nothing to 
travel over the moantains now to what it was then, the 
roads were both narrow and steep, as well as crooked, ow- 
ing to the zigzag nature of the road, soldiers in the front 
coald behold very many soldiers towards the rear, and 
the soldiers in the rear coald behold many of the soldiers 
that marched between it and the front. This march not 
being a forced one, ample time was given as to ascend 
to its summit. Nature had strewn her moss-covered 
■seats aboat in profusion apoa its side, and we gratefiil 
to her for the favour, occupied them often in our labor- 
ious journey as well upon this mountain as others apoa 
all the other mountains which laid in our way between 
Cumberlaad valley and Pittsburg. 

When we were going down Sideling" hill, one of omr 
soldiers that had taken sick, and that bad been placed 



310 * LIFE OF 

in one of the baggag^e- wagons, died. We made a halt, 
long enough to bury him. A kind of a grave was dug, 
but when we came to bury him it was found that a spring 
had issued forth, which had filled the hole more than 
half its depth with water. A quantity of bushes was 
then cut down and placed in it. On these, wrapped 
up in his blanket and without a coffin we laid him. We 
played the dead march to the spot and interred him with 
all the military honors that circumstances permitted us 
to bestow upon him. Truly, he found a soldier's lonely 
and quiet grave, or rather a grave in a lonely and quiet 
place. Although no wife nor children were there to 
wail aloud in their lament, the loss of husband and father 
— no woman there from whose eyes the tears of tender- 
ness fall thick and fast. But if not, there were friends 
there. If no gushings of tenderness were there, there was 
sadness around, and many a heart was bowed in resig- 
nation to the will of God, and in the serenity of minds 
to which had been called home every wandering thought, 
we bore him in our sober sorrow for the dead, to his lone- 
ly and final resting place in the mountain wilderness, 
mid rocks and trees, and left him to repose in his long, 
long sleep mid the chantings of birds and the gurglings 
of mountain rills. 

In marching: over the first mountains I was taken with 
fever and ague, and upon its commencing to rain, I ob- 
tained permission from Captain Fisher to walk on ahead 
to a little town that lay in our way. Here I obtained 
the comforts of a roof, fire, &c. and was (I may state) 
at home in part, until the army arrived and encamped. 

From here w^e resumed our march in the morning, and 
after a toiling march of several days over mountains and 
valleys in which we endured diflferent kinds of hardships 
we arrived at Bedford. 

Sometime after our arrival at that place, portions of 
our army were reorganized. Here we lost our Captain 
(Fisher) who was promoted to the rank of Major. — 
Lieutenant Retzell became our Captain and Ensign 
Dentzell became Lieutenant. After these changes were 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 311 

made we had to hold an election for Ensign. A member 
of the company whose name I have forgotten, except 
that we always called him Pete, was very anxious to be 
elected Ensign. Pete was a rattle brained, good hum- 
ored and good hearted clever sort of a fellow. He ran 
from one to another electioneering for himself, " Come 
Bill, you'll vote for me, wont you." '' Dave's agoing 
to," *' Tom you and .Joe will make me Ensign, wont 
you, say." ** Here, Sam, come along and give us a hoist, 
you may as well do it as Jim, he's agoing it to the nines." 
Seeing the fellow's industry in electioneering for him- 
self we voted for him and elected him, and easily too, 
for he had no opposition. 

There were many worthy, active and intelligent mem** 
bers of the company that might have been proposed, but 
there were not any in the company that wanted the of- 
fice — Pete had all the benefits arismg out of the exercise 
of the military franchise within the company. Lawyer 
Elder, a clever fellow and much beloved by the com- 
pany could have had the office at a word had he but 
consented to have been a candidate. 

Gne day whilst we lay at Bedford, I received a mes-? 
sage with orders (I being then Fife Major,) to bring my 
music up to one of the officer's Marquees, I told the per^ 
son sent to me to inform the officer that I had no fifer, 
but that I would go myself. Warriour and myself play- 
ed and beat up to the officer's quarters, We were then 
placed at the head of two or three file of men and march- 
ed off by a Sergeant (who had his orders) to the jail. — 
"When we halted at the jail door our Strawsburg hog 
thief was brought out and handed over to the Sergeant 
of the guard who had notified us, that when we should 
march with our charge we should beat the " Rogue's 
March." When our prisoner was properly positioned 
we received the order of *' forward," and as we stepped 
off, we commenced to beat the Rogue's march after him. 
He was then conducted through the camp and out of 
town, about a mile. We then discharged him with sev- 
eral real huzzas loud and long, and then by three cheers 



312 • LIFE OP 

or long rolls of the drum. After he had gotten somi 
little distance off from us (far enough to ensure his secu 
rity providing his heels would piove true to him,) he. 
threw out the challenge of defiance to the whole of us; 
To have judged of his strength by his words, he could 
have thrashed the whole army then at Bedford. Be-^ 
sides threatening to "maul" us all, he stated that he- 
was very glad that he was that far upon his road towards' 
home. He then bade us an extremely polite adieu in 
Billingsgate slang, and then heeled it until he was out 
of sight. The departure of this modern Goliah was even 
more sportive than his presence and conduct had been 
previous. 

Shortly after this, there was intelligence received that 
the " Whiskey Boys" in great numbers were lying in 
ambush awaiting our approach. Some believed the re- 
port, others scouted at the idea. The whole army re- 
ceived an ample supply of amunition. The rifle com- 
panies were ordered to mould a great number of bullets, 
and much preparation was made to repel any attack; 
which the insurgents might feel disposed to make.- — 
The orders to prepare to march upon a certain day were 
general. Each man drew a double or triple quantity of 
provisions and received orders to cook the same. 

All things being in readiness, w^e then took up the 
line of march and pushed for the Alleghany mountain. 
I do not recollect any thing worthy of notice until we 
were descending the western base of the Alleghany 
mountain in our approach to the *^ Glades." Here we 
had a hard time of it. It was now November and the 
"weather was not only quite cold but it was windy and 
rain was falling. By an oversight we were pushed on 
a considerable distance in advance of our baggage wag- 
ons and at length halted at an old waste barn that w^e 
supposed belonged to some one of the insurgents, for had 
it not been so, our army w'ould not have been permitted 
to burn the fences thereon. We collected rails and built 
fires, but owing to the rain and the marshy nature of 
that section of country, the groujid ,arQ,ur^4 9HF*%^^'wit^i 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 3l3 

our continual tramping became quite miry. Tramping 
about in order to dry and keep ourseh^es warm, made 
our situation about the fires quite an uncomfortable one, 
for we were oftentimes shoe-mouth deep in mud and 
water. There was an old house as well as a barn upon 
these premises. These the officers laid hold of and bil' 
leted in; their condition however, was not the most com- 
fortable one in the world, although they had the name 
of having a roof over their heads. The night was a very 
dark one and the weather was cold, and the rain was a 
remarkably cold one. It is true it did not freeze, bat 
jack frost and his binding powers could not have been 
far off. I went out into the woods and groped about 
in the dark in search of a hollow tree or hollow log into 
ivhich (had I found one) I was determined to crawl and 
parter for the night, but I groped about in vain. The 
yround out from the fires was so wet (it being covered 
with water) that it was impossible to lie down, and the 
around around the fires was so much like to a morter 
)ed, that it was impossible to lie down there. None of 
he soldiers then dared to lie down. 

Our sutler arrived with his wagon sometime after mid- 
light. A short while after his arrival, I espied ^fockle 
)r handful. of straw, lying near to his wagon ; this I went 
md picked up, and then hunted for a dry spot to lie 
lown on, but it was Hobson's choice, mud and water 
)r nothing. I at length spread out my straw upon the 
ground. When I had placed my knapsack in the bag- 
gage wagon, I had kept my blanket out and had carried 
t with me. In this I wrapped myself as well as I could,' 
nd laid me down upon ray handful of straw to sleep, 
'his was not long done, until worn out Sammy forgot 
11 his sorrows, sufferings and cares, and fell soundly 
sleep. 
When I awoke in the morning, my head w^as half 
Tried in mud and water. My readers may judge of 
nesting place, when I inform them, that I combed 
- d from within the hair of my head with my fingers, 
nty of money, but here it was in a manner useless 



314 "LIFE or 

to me, and not worth more than would be the stones of 
the field, for nothing of an eatable kind could be pro- 
cured with it. Nothing of comfort kind could be pro- 
cured except hardware, alias ^^ good stuff. ^"^ I took four 
canteens (my own among the numbc'/,) and went to the 
sutler's wagon, and had them filled. For the four can- 
teens full (a little over a gallon) I paid the sutler four 
silver dollars, and was very well satisfied to get it even 
at that exorbitant pi ice. Captain Alcohol in this par- 
ticular instance was of great service to myself and mess- 
mates, as also to some of our neighboring messmates. 
In those days of hardships, sufferings and dangers, we 
did not single ourselves out, and drink behind the doors 
and swear "we didn't taste the creature," as too many 
of the people do now-a-days. In this instance we came 
up to Captain Whiskey with a bold front, in open day 
and acknowledged his potent spell, and superior worth 
in our proper use of him. This was a dreadful night's 
rest with us all, and had not each man had a bite of 
something to eat with him in his haversack , we would 
have been much worse off indeed, for our baggage 
wagons did not reach us until near 10 o'clock on the 
next morning. No blame could attach itself to our 
wagoners, for they had been at work all night in doub- 
ling, trebling and quadrupling their teams of horses in 
helping each other through the swamps, which were in 
a manner almost altogether impassable; but we did think 
rather hard of our officers for pushing us so far in ad- 
vance of our baggage wagons. In this, however, we 
might have been wrong, as they could not have con- ; 
ceived any idea of the wagoners encountering such dif- 
ficulties as they did in passing through the swamps. — r 
Another thing was obvious, this, that our having enter- , 
ed them in our march on foot, no encampi 
could have been procured short of where we \ , 

and miserable as it was, it must be viewed a; .iient 

ground, compared with that which lay betweer -^ ^d ' 
the Alleghany mountain. My readers may ju^ 
land's surface, and of the state of the roadjs tLx/v»K 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 315 

glades, -when I inform them that when some of the wagons 
arrived in the forenoon at where we halted the night pre- 
vious, they had each from twelve to twenty horses at- 
tached to them, and the axle-trees, were sweeping or 
shoving the mud and water before them as they moved 
onwards. None but regular wagoners could have navi- 
gated these mud swamps, and none but regular teams- 
ters or men acquainted with bad roads, or roads in their 
worst state, can conceive the impassable state of the roads 
through the glades in the year 1794. Those wagoners 
who drove the two mile lane near Pittsburg from 1806 
to 1815 or 16, can form some conception as to the state 
of the glade roads during the fall of '94. 

Upon the arrival of our baggage wagons, we were or- 
dered to "beat up the Troop." This done, all the sol- 
diers fell into line, the rolls were called, we stacked our 
•arms, and were then dismissed. 

The Quarter Master in our regiment then dealt out 
the provisions to each company. The meat which fell 
to our lot was the poorest we had drawn from the time 
■we had started from Harrisburg. It was that of a cow, 
which he had procured, and which, in all probability, 
had but dropped her calf. This idea was strengthened 
by that of her having been a milch cow. This meat was 
so poor and clammy that, (in the language of soldiers 
respecting poor meat,) if it had been thrown against a 
board fence, it would have stuck fast. Poor as it was, 
we had to hurry and cook it, and poor indeed w-as that 
drawn by other companies, if poorer than that drawn by 
ours. After we had prepared and ate our breakfast 
(which was not until nearly or altogether twelve o'clock, 
A. M.) we placed the balance in our haversacks, and 
then beat up the long-roll. The line of march was soon 
formed, the word * forward' was given, and we then re- 
sumed our march towards the Laurel Hill. 

Owing io the late rain, the road was still very bad, 
and we were unable to proceed very far that day before 
night was setting in upon us. A halt was called, and our 
baggage wagons not being far behind us, we were not long 



316 «LIFE OF 

before we had our tents pitched, and in the enjoyment 
of all the comforts that our circumstances could afford 
us. Not having had any comfort or sleep the night pre- 
vious, we were in a condition each, to make full hands 
at the business of sleeping. We laid down early, and 
enjoyed a tolerable night's rest. 

As soon as we partook of breakfast next morning, we 
beat up the long- roll, and marched off in better spirits 
than we had the day previous. We continued our march 
until we arrived on the top of Laurel Hill mountain. — 
Here a halt was ordered, and each soldier seated him- 
self and partook of a bite of cold victuals. 

After we had finished our repast, an officer called out 
to me, requesting me to bring my Drummer along with 
me, and play him a few good tunes. Warriour and I 
then went to where this officer and others were seated 
taking their cold bite and '•'•good stuff. ^^ They invited 
us to take a little of the creature with them, which we 
did without making any wry faces about it. They then 
asked us to give them some of our best tunes. We did 
so, and in doing it, we of course done our best. As we 
were thus engaged, some of them joined in a dance, and 
began to skip about, and trip it as orderly, lively and 
airy as if they had been in a ball room. These officers 
had their horses tied up to the bushes and trees near to 
where they then were. Among the horses, there was 
one that I had frequently noticed on the w^ay. The of- 
ficer that owned and rode him, would often jump him 
over large logs and limbs of trees. He would clear 
them always, and in doing so, would leap like a deer. 
Whilst we were playing and the officers dancing, this 
horse was prancing to the music with seeming delight. 
I heard the officers talking with each other about him. 
One said he was old, and another said he was not. — 
They then asked the officer that owned him if he knew 
how old he was. He replied that he did. He said that 
his father had raised him from a colt, and that he was 
thirty-three years old the last spring season then past. 
I believed then that this horse was the handsomest^ most 
active and showy one in the whole army. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 317 

After the officers had done dancing, we were ordered 
to beat up the long-roll, upon which the men formed, 
and we moved onwards. We next made a halt at 
Greensburg in Westmoreland county, and the next halt 
that we made was not far from the '^ Bullock Plains," 
known by many as Braddock's Fields. When we ar- 
rived at Braddock's Fields, we formed our camp, and 
laid there a few days. Whilst there, the soldiers, many 
of them, amused themselves by climbing up into the 
trees for the purpose of cutting out leaden bullets, which 
had been lodged there in 1755, when General Brad- 
dock was defeated by the Indians in the campaign of 
that year. 

From Braddock's Fields we moved on to Fort Pitt, 
(now Pittsburg) and encamped within a mile of the 
town. 

Whilst we laid at Fort Pitt I obtained permission to 
visit the town every day or two. The old Fort (Du 
Quesne,) which had been built for the protection of this 
post, f do not recollect whether it was occupied by any 
of our troops, but believe it was not. It was so built 
as to command the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, 
above, and at their junction, as also the Ohio river be- 
low. The hills around Pittsburg, particularly those on 
the opposite sides of both rivers were very high. The 
hills above Pittsburg and between the two rivers were 
(some of them) quite high and were called by different 
names, as Grant's Hill, Scotch Hill, Forbe's Fields, &c. 

Instead of being met as was threatened by a formida- 
ble foe, we saw nothing in the form of enemies. The 
disaffected, (those that organized themselves) had dis- 
banded and gone quietly to their homes. 

The insurrectionary spirit was every day growing 
weaker and weaker, and in proportion as this had mani- 
fested itself the insurgent force had diminished. Must- 
ering from 7 to 10,000 men only, and they promiscu- 
ously and hastily drawn from their homes, young and old 
without proper leaders, proper discipline, military stores, 
&c. &c., they had thought it altogether futile to attempt 
27* 



318 *LIFE OF 

to resist (or cope with) a well disciplined army of up- 
wards of 15,000 strong. 

After a number of the more active leaders were cap- 
tured and handed over to the proper authorities to be 
dealt with according to the laws of the land, the expe- 
dition was considered at an end. 

Governor Lee, believing that it was altogether neces- 
sary and loudly called for, left General Morgan with a 
strong detachment in the centre of " this disaffected 
country." 

The main body of the army w^s then withdrawn 
from Pittsburg and the surrounding country, and were 
marched on their way homewards. Many who sought 
discharges obtained them, some of these enlisted in the 
United States regular service and marched on to join 
General Wayne who was then engaged in a war with 
the Indians on the Miamis, in Ohio. A journeyman 
shoemaker whom I had had in my employ and who was 
•with us, enlisted then and I never -saw or heard tell of 
him afterwards. 

Others deserted and remained in the West, and a 
great many died and lie buried at different places within 
the country surrounding Pittsburg. 

Whilst at Fort Pitt, my attention was attracted one 
day by a great crowd of soldiers and citizens. I drew 
near for the purpose of learning the cause of such a con- 
course of people. I perceived that the crowd was view- 
ing a tavern sign. The tavern keeper had commenced 
the business but a short time before, andliad put up a 
sign, upon which was painted " St. Clair's Defeat," 
-yvhich had occurred on the 4th of November, 1791. — 
The sign-board upon which this bloody massacre was 
painted was full twenty feet in length. On both its 
sides, whites and Indians were painted. Some of the 
whites were represented as bearing up against the tide 
of savage ferocity. Others, both whites and Indians, 
were represented as falling in death. Indians were re- 
presented as firing, scalping and tomahawking the 
whites. General Butler, (under whose command I had, 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 319 

been at York, Pa., during the Revolutionary war,) was 
represented as wounded and leaning against a tree, and an 
Indian before hiiu with a tomahawk in one hand, and a 
scalping-knife in the other, springing towards him to 
complete the work of death. Indians were represented 
also as taking aim, and tiring from behind trees and logs. 
Whites were also shown as falling, some one way and 
some another. On each side of this si^n-board, I sup- 
pose there were two or three hundred whites and Indians 
represented. This sign must have cost the landlord a 
great sum of money, but T suppose our soldiers alone 
more than paid for it, for there were crowds of them to 
look at it whilst we were encamped at Pittsburg, and 
most of them spent their money pretty freely in patroniz- 
ing his house. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The weather had been very bad much of the time dur- 
ing our stay at Pittsburg. Rain and snow, with clear 
weather, would be seen twice or three times in one day; 
portions of the time, and the weather, I may state, con- 
tinued bad for the most part until we arrived at home. 
I suffered more from exposure to cold, cold rains, chill- 
ing damps, wet and deep roads during this expedition, 
than I had at any time during the Revolutionary war. 
I was very unwell when we arrived at Greensburg, on 
our return homewards. At this place a horse -svas put 
into my possession, to be delivered at Strawsburg, situa- 
ted at the eastern base of the mountains in Cumberland 
valley. After this good fortune attended me, I obtain- 
ed permission to travel on ahead of the army. I started 
from Greensburg in fine spirits. Indeed, I went on my 
way rejoicing greatly. The thoughts of home, wife, 
kindred and friends, are of themselves sufficient to ani- 
mate and buoy up the way-worn traveller's spirits under 
the most distressing fatigues. 



320 LIFE or 

Oh ! time is sweet when roses meet, 

With Spring's sweet breath around them ; 
And sweet the cost, when hearts are lost. 

If those we love have found them. 
And sweet the mind that still can find 

A star in darkest weather; 
But nouofht can be so sweet to see 

As old friends met together! 

Those days of old, when youth was bold. 

And time stole wings to speed it, 
And youth ne'er knew how fast Time flew, 

Or, knowing, did not heed it ! 
Though grey each brow that meets us now, 

For age brings win'try weather. 
Yet nought can be so sweet to see 

As those old friends together ! 

The few long known, whom years have shown 

With hearts that friendship blesses , 
A hand to cheer, — pA-chance a tear. 

To soothe a friends' distresses : 
Who helped and tried, still side by side, 

A friend to face hard weather ; 
Oh ! this may we yet joy to see. 

And meet old friends together ! 

After climbing and descending alternately for a num- 
ber of days together the different mountains which laid 
between Greensburg and the Cumberland valley, I at 
length arrived at Strawsburg, where I delivered the horse 
that had served, carried and eased me so much on my 
return journey. 

Setting out from Strawsburg, in Franklin county, Pa., 
it was not long until I reached Harrisburg. A number 
of days elapsed before Captain Fisher's (then Dentzell's) 
company arrived at Harrisburg. 

This company broke up soon after, and I removed to 
Reading, in Berks county. Pa. Poor Warriour, our 
Drummer was drowned not very long afterwards.-— 
Drowned and perished together. He was going home 
one night much intoxicated, and laid him down in a 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 321 

little hollow or very low spot in a field, and fell into a 
(dead drunk) sleep, during which a heavy shower came 
on and filled the low spot in which he laid with water, 
so much so, as to drown him. Unfortunate end to poor 
Warriour, who otherwise possessed a heart in which 
much of the milk of human kindness had its abode. 

Sometime after I went to Reading, I procured two 
horses and a sled, and set out for Harrisburg. I loaded 
up my house-hold stuff and conveyed it down to Read- 
ing, intending to make that place my home. I was not 
long a resident of that town before I joined Captain 
Keims' volunteer company in the capacity of Fifer. — 
This company was composed of the most respectable 
young men (mechanics, lawyers, store keepers and farm- 
ers,) of Reading and its neighborhood. Here, as before, 
I had a Revolutionary Drummer, one who had belonged 
to my own regiment during the Revolution. We called 
him Daddy Jack^ indeed, I never heard or knew (as I 
recollect of) any other name for him. He w^as a very 
hard favored fellow, and had a mouth in size more like 
to that of a horse than a human. When he would laugh 
he was "all mouth," and opened it like an alligator. — 
Oftentimes he would laugh purposely to set those around 
him to laughing, and when he knew we w^ere laughing 
at him he would join in with us and laugh heartily, and 
seemed to enjoy the sport very well. Daddy Jack, I 
may state, was a Drummer *'in full," for he understood 
well the whole minutiae or science of Drumming. 

At the time that John Adams, President of the United 
States, was authorized by Congress to augment the 
regular army, I was hired to play the Fife in a recruit- 
ing excursion by a Lieutenant Worrell, of the United 
States' service, who then rendezvoused at Reading. 
The Captain's name was Faughner, and resided in 

Easton, Pa. Lieutenant Worrell procured to 

beat the drum. This Drummer (not Daddy Jack) was 
a very good one. As he and I had been employed by 
General Bowers of Reading, to learn some young lads 
to play the fife and beat the drum, I of course had a 



322 »LIFE OF 

good opportunity of knowing whether he was a good 
musician or not. 

Lieutenant Worrell procured a horse and wagon, and 
took a Sergeant, a Drummer and myself into it, and 
started ofFto wards the head- waters of the Delaware river. 
I think our place of rendezvous was somewhere in 
Wayne County, Pa. There was a large building erect- 
ed for our use. We obtained some recruits while on 
our way thither. After our arrival at our station near to 

the town of , we gave the inhabitants good music, 

with reveille in the morning and tattoo at night. Owing 
to this perhaps, and the music we made when marching 
through the town (which we did daily,) we soon began 
to haul in recruits very fast. He that hath not music in 
himself, the poet says, is fit for treason, villanies and 
spoils. We were in great favor with the people of the 
town and the surrounding neighborhoods, particularly the 
girls, A^ho were very fond of hearing us play some of our 
choice tunes. They, with their love-sick swains as their 
conductors, were no ways backward to visit our quar- 
ters during afternoons and evenings, and request a few 
of our best airs on our spirit-stirring fife and drum. — 
Having the ears of our youthful, pretty and innocent visi- 
ters hanging on our music, my readers may suppose our 
efforts to please were none of the most feeble. 

We were not a very long while at that post until we 
had a company gathered together. Soon after our com- 
pany was completed, we received orders to march off. 
As soon as reveille was beat on the morning of our march, 
we were ordered to hasten with our breakfast. This 
done, we received orders to beat up the long roll. The 
men then formed ranks, and the roll was called. It being 
known to the inhabitants of the town, that we were to 
march away upon that morning, many of them came and 
bade us farewell. 

In the course of the morning, we were ordered for- 
ward. We marched down to Easton where as I have 
already stated, Captain Faughner lived. Previous to our 
entering that place, Lieutenant Worrell came to me and 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 323 

asked me to play "Burns' Farewell," through the town. 
I did so, and never was music enjoyed better by the 
citizens of any place than ours was upon that occasion. 
At that time there were a great number of P'ree Masons 
resided in Easton, and it is known to most of my readers 
that Burns' Farewell is a masonic air. As soon as we 
struck up this favorite air, the streets through which we 
passed were crowded with men, women and children. 

We marched on, down to the , and the men 

came to an order. After each man received half a 
gill of liquor, we then marched down to the barracs 
which were located near to the bridge. Here the men 
remained, but myself, Lieutenant Worrell took with 
him to his quarters. Whilst we laid in Easton (which 
was sometime) I had to go to the barracs night and morn- 
ing, in order to play for the beating of tattoo and reveille, 

I never was in a place at any time before or since, 
where the people were so fond of martial music as in 
Easton. Every morning when we would beat the rev- 
eille, there would be a crowd of men aiid boys collected 
to hear us, among them were many of the first men of 
the town. Some of these gentlemen spoke to our offi- 
cers and obtained permission for my Drummer and my- 
self, to go to their houses and play and beat the reveil- 
le, "Burns' Farewell," "Girl I left behind me," "Hail 
Columbia," "Over the hills and far away," &c. &C.5 for 
their ladies who were highly delighted with our music. 
"We had several houses to visit every morning and even- 
ing. At these — our moveable musical rendezvous, the 
ladies of a dozen or more families would collect to hear 
us. This was a profitable as well as a delightful em- 
ployment for us, for we were well paid for our services, 
as we received a dollar or two on every occasion. This 
was vrry well, for it answered us for spending mon- 
e.y ^Ve were noways churlish with our music, and 
es were as liittle so with their money. Besides, 
I our duty at the barracs, we had to play and 
and down the streets every morning, and we 
,..waye ^t'ked at some point or other (where we 
' to ■- turns' Farewell. 



324 * LIFE OF 

Such pleasures as these, were very precarious, for in 
the midst of all our joy, we were ordered on to join our 
regiment at Elizabeth Town Point, in Jersey. The in-^ 
habitants of Easton were very sorry at parting with us, 
and we, having been used so well (for T never was treat- 
ed so well at any other place,) were as sorry to part with 
them. When aclino^in the capacity of waiter to Major 
Greer durmg the Revolutionary war, I thought I enjoy* 
ed the "best kind of times," but those enjoyments were 
short lived beside the pleasures derived from so mutual an 
intercourse as existed with the people at Easton. The 
men were all like brothers, and the Avomen all like sis- 
ters. If one family partook of our special musical treats^ 
those of a dozen or twenty families were invited to be 
in attendance thereat, and we (musicians) had the good 
countenance of all, and great kindness shown us in the 
treatment we received at their respective houses. 

The day appointed for our departure came. We par- 
aded early and got in readiness for the march. Many 
of the ladies and gentlemen of Easton visited us. We 
played a number of their favorite airs, and then bidding 
them an affectionate farewell, we marched off to join our 
regiment at Elizabeth Town Point. By the time we 
arrived and joined the regiment at that place, my time 
had expired, and I wished to return home again, but 
the Colonel of the regiment insisted so much upon my 
staying one month longer, and he having offered me 
great wages, I was induced to accept his offer, and 
agreed to stay another month. 

Colonel had a double object in my detention. 

There was not a good Fifer in the regiment, and as there 
had been several lads enlisted but a short time previous 
as Fifers and Drummers, he wanted me to assist in in- 
structing them. This, although a laborious task, yet, 
so far as I was concerned, I cheerfully contributed in 
perfecting them in the art of playing and beating. 

Elizabeth Town Point ! Who that was ever there 
in the harvest or in gathering of mosquetoes has or W'' 
ever forget it. I had been once on an expedition a r 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 325 

ways, to the south, but I never met with a place where 
mosquetoes w^ere marshalled in such formidable hosts, 
as at Elizabeth Town Point. Every morning at reveille, 
we had to have three or four boys with bushes in their 
hands to stand by us to brush off the mosquetoes whilst 
we performed upon the Fifes and Drums. A boy at a 
blacksmith's shop never plyed his horse-tail fly driver, 
whilst the smith would be shoeing a horse, with more 
faithfulness than our boys had to brandish their bushes 
about against these half grgwn gallinippers. When 
practizing, or when pjaying and beating tattoo, we very 
often burnt dry cow-dang. Between the heat and the 
great smoke (the greater the smoke the better,) because 
w^e were enabled to perform without their annoying us 
much. 

Tere is quite a natural curiosity to be seen here when 
the tide is making from the sea to the land. 

Not long after I had made my second engagement, I 
obtained permission to go to the city of New York to 
procure some note (music) books. I crossed over (I 
think it was then called) Stalen Island, and after trav- 
elling about five miles I came to -a tavern. Here, as I 
stopped to take a drink, the landlord asked me where I 
was going to. I told him I was bound for the city of 
New York. He then informed me, that there was a very- 
great sickness in the city, and asked me if I was not 
afraid to go there. I replied that I was not afraid of 
catching the disease, but perhaps my ignorance of its 
awful ravages, and my own previous good health both 
conspired to make me more brave or stout hearted than 
I should have been. I asked the landlord how far it 
was to the city, he replied it was four miles to the cros- 
sing place. I then started on and reached the ferry. — 
This place was then called, '4he watering place," it be- 
ing the place where the shipping took in their supplies 
of fresh water preparatory to their going out to sea. There 
was a very large building at this place, and perhaps a 
number of scattering houses. There was a tavern house 
here also. 
28 



326 . LIFE OF 

There were hundreds of Ladies and Gentlemen here ' 
who had fled from the city for the purpose of keeping 
out of the way of the sickness. I was very hungry and 
asked at the tavern for something to eat, but I was not 
listened to, or rather was not attended to, and furnished 
with w^hat I then stood very much in need of indeed. — 
Perhaps it was at this place as it is at too many taverns 
now-a-days. " Travellers Rest" on the sign boards, 
but when there are what are termed fashionable people 
about, many of whom are known by the true appellation 
of Dandies — fashionable blackguards, who are very ob- 
sequiously waited upon, whilst the poor traveller hungry 
and weary is neglected. Gentlemen, back your promul- 
gated principles of equality with better and more appro- 
priate actions. One man's money is just as good as 
that of. another and he that asks civilly for what he stands 
in need of, and is ready to pay for the same, has an equal 
claim although covered with rags. No man puts up a 
sign and spreads abroad the intelligence that he intends 
to keep a house exclusively for those that shall appear 
to have much, although far less is their possession. A 
good man says, I will serve the public faithfully and 
shall not know any one man's money from that of 
another. This is republicanism, and the principles of 
republicanism carried out faithfully, are the principles of 
justice. 

At the watering place, there was a shed erected like 
to a brick-yard shed and over one hundred yards in 
length. This shed was filled with bales of cotton. I 
pulled a handful of cotton out of one of the bales in or- 
der to look at it and at the moment thought of some pur- 
pose to which I could convert it, and then put it into my 
pocket. I then went to the ferry and asked if I could 
get across to the city. I was told that the vessel was 
just then in sight. I do not recollect now where the 
ferry was located, but remember that I could see the 
city or a part of it. At this place, there were a great 
many negroes waiting for the boat. These (as I learn- 
ed afterwards) were hired to bury all the dead bodies 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. -SS*? 

landed there. As soon as the boat touched the shore, I 
saw one dead body thrown out with as little cereraony 
as if it had been a " beet's-pluck." The moment it was 
thrown ^' tvallup^^ upon the ground, a number of the 
negroes hoisted it up and bore it away for interment. — - 
This sight knocked me up to a stand instantly, and 
frightened me very much. I instantly beat up my re- 
treat, gave up all notion of visiting New York at this 
time and determined at once to return. It was at this 
time nearly sun-set, but by " heeling it right smartly" in 
pushing for the tavern at which I had stopped, I can as- 
sure my readers that I was -not long in reaching it. — 
The distance was (as before stated) four miles. When 
I returned to this tavern, I told the landlord what I had 
seen, and the cause of my return ; and observed that I 
was very hungry, wanted my supper and lodging, and 
asked him if he would keep me all night. " To be sure 
J will," was his reply. T'his pleased me very much, for 
I was afraid he might be as saucily disposed towards me 
as the landlord at the Watering Place. I told my host 
that I was very hungry. He said I should have my sup- 
per in a short time. I then took a drink, and not long 
after I was called to supper. Being very hungry, I par- 
took of the victuals not only heartily but with a relish. 
After I ate supper, the landlord and I fell into a conver- 
sation, and during which, I asked him the reason why 
such great quantities of cotton w^ere stored up in the 
sheds I had seen at the Watering Place. He said, that 
all ships were prohibited from carrying any cotton into 
the city, for that the sickness was supposed to have been 
carried there by means of the cotton at the first. At 
hearing of this, I jumped up and went out hastily and 
threw away from ^ne the handful of cotton I had in my 
pocket. When I returned to the house I said nothing 
about my having had any of it about me, for I thought if 
he had known that I had any of it with me he would not 
. have suffered me to stay all night in his house. Being 
much fatigued, I retired to bed and rested very well that 
night, and started off for the camp again in the morn- 



328 • LIFE OF 

ingj quite grateful for the kind treatment I had received, 
notwithstanding, I had paid for all I had received. 

After my return to camp at Elizabeth Town Point, I 
continued to play the fife for the regiment until my month 
expired. During this time, I spent a good deal of ray 
time in teaching the boys (I have before alluded to,) to 

play the fife. Colonel , Lieutenant Worrell and 

several oiher officers were very anxious for me to stay 
longer with them, I told them that I wished to return to 
see my wife and children, and therefore could not think 
of sta3'ing any longer away from them. 

At this time there was a young man enlisted in the 
regiment, who w^s the son of a very wealthy and high- 
ly respectable man. His father had bestowed upon him 
a very liberal classical education. On account of his in- 
telligence, he was appointed a Sergeant in one of the 
companies comprising the regiment. The father and 
mother of this young man came to camp, with an ex- 
pectation that they could buy him off. Their efforts how- 
ever were all made in vain. The officers told his father 
if he could get me to stay in his son's place (which would 
have suited the officers very w^ell,) they would then let 
him go home with him and his mother. The father and 
mother made a proposition to me immediately. They 
offered me the sum of one hundred dollars, all his pay, 
and his cloathes if I would but consent to take his place, 
I told them I could not think of doing; it, as I had my 
own family that was as dear to me as their son could be to 
them to attend to. They plead very hard with me, but 
I informed them that it was not worth their while to ask 
me any more about it, stating I had been long enough 
an enlisted soldier in the revolutionary war and that I 
was determined never to enlist again,, — that I now had 
a family that looked up to me for protection and support 
and must return to it again. Then, and not till then did 
their importunities cease. The officers then paid me off, 
and I procured myself a good horse and returned to my 
home at Reading. Although I had done very well, and 
had taken a clever little sum of money home with me I 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 329 

missed my luck after all, in not accepting the offer made 
me by the Sergeant's parents, for in about a month after 
the army was disbanded — had I known that 1 could 
have had my discharge so soon and have had a hund- 
red dollars (besides his pay,) more home with me in my 
pocket. But I found my family w^ell and was then in 
the bosom of it, and was in all respects contented. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

In the fidl of 1798, the spirit of resistance to the gen- 
eral government, began to show^ itself in many parts of 
the country, I believe it was in consequence of the Alien 
and Sedition laws, and the levying of additional taxes. 
There was a farmer of the name of Epply w^ho lived 
about three miles from Reading who was an influential 
and wealthy man. Epply stood in the front rank of the 
" Liberty Boys," in that section of the country. The 
insurgents rendezvoused on his farm and erected a 
*' Liberty PoW'' in front of his house. There was a com- 
pany of Light Horse, commanded by a Captain Slow* 
sent on from Lancaster with orders to cut it down. — 
When this company arrived on the farm of Epply and 
within sight of the liberty pole. Captain Slow^ was sur- 
prised to find upwards of one hundred Riflemen under 
arms and guarding the pole, and finding that he had too 
few men to contend against this force he retired w^ithout 
making any effort to fill the measure of his orders. He 
returned with his company to Reading and obtained a 
reinforcement ^nd moved on a second time to execute 
his orders. When he arrived within sight of the liberty 
pole a second time, the insurgents finding that SIow's 
force was augmented, and too strong for them to con- 
tend against, gave way and dispersed in ail directions, 

♦Pronounced SIou. 

28* 



330 *LIFE OF 

Captain Slow and his force then moved up to the pole, 
which was immediately cut down. These prompt mea- 
sures put an end to the movements of the Liberty Boys 
in the neighborhood of Reading. After Captain Slow 
returned the second time to Reading a printer in town 
whom I knew very well, published an article in his news- 
paper derogatory to the character of Slow as a gentle- 
man and as a soldier. Slow who was a large and pow- 
erful man no sooner beheld it, than he went and bought 
a cowhide and went to the printing office and took hold 
of the printer and dragged him across the street to the 
Market house, which was opposite to the printing office 
and cowhided him severely. There was not any person 
interfered, nor did any person say any thing against it 
for the printer was looked upon as the aggressor. 

About this time another insurrection had broke out 
in Northampton County, Pa. which was known (as was 
the last above named) by the appellation of the " Liber- 
ty Boys." .^ 

There was a company of United States' regulars sta- 
tioned at Reading, and was commanded by Captain 
Shoemaker. There was another, a volunteer company 
which was commanded by Captain Keim's, and to which 
(as I have before stated) I belonged. These two com- 
panies received orders to march on to Northampton 
County to aid in quelling the insurrectionary spirit that 
had broken out in that quarter. 

On the evening before we marched, I was ordered to 
bring my drummer to the Court-House at an early hour 
next morning, and to then beat the reveille. We were 
up and in readiness long before day-light. Just as day 
began to break, we beat up the reveille, after which we 
went home and ate our breakfast. After we had ate our 
breakfast we went to our Captain's Quarters and receiv- 
ed orders to beat up the General down and up the streets 
of the town, and then to beat up the Troop. We done 
so. The men then formed ranks and the rolls were call- 
ed, after which, they were dismissed for an hour, 
with orders to be there at the roll of the drum, and all 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 331 

to be then ready to march off. When the hour expired, 
we beat up the long roll down and up the streets. The 
men formed a second time, and at the word "forward," 
we marched off with " a merry double drag," so that w^e 
could not hear the crying of women and children, many 
of whom were weeping sorely. 

I do not recollect the route by which we marchecfto 
Northampton, but I recollect we stopped at the town of - 
and encamped two or three days. I had play- 
ed the fife so much at this place, I began to spit blood, 
and became very ill. Captain Keim, Lawyers Bittle and 
Scull took me to a house and procured a room in which 
there was a good bed, into which they put me. They 
then brought Doctor to see me and he adminis- 
tered medicine to me. Keim, Biddle and Scull brought 
their blankets with them and laid on the floor in the same 
room with me and attended to me as brothers would have 
attended a brother. By the aid of the Doctor's medi- 
cine and the kind nursing treatment I received from the 
persons I have named, as also from the family in which 
I was placed, I was restored to health again in a few 
days and able to play the fife as usual. 

We marched again and arrived at Millerstowm, in 
Northampton County, and encamped on the common- 
ground near to the tow-n. Captain Keims' and Captain 
Shoemaker's companies constituted all the foot-soldiers 
that lay at Millerstovvn. Here we had little to do as duty 
and less fighting, our military force was a vast one, and to 
use the phrase there was no end to Light Horsemen. It 
seemed as if there were more here than I had seen in all 
my life previous. Every day we could see Light Horse 
companies coming in with droves of insurgents whom 
they had captured. These prisoners as fast as the Light 
Horse captured them, were marched off to Norristown 
on the Schuylkill river above Philadelphia. 

Captain Frees, the leader or chief of the Liberty Boys 
in Northampton County, was an extremely wary fellow. 
Some of the Light Horsemen were continually in pur- 
suit of him. He being one of the most active and stout 



332 ftlFE OF 

men in the country, and very fleet on foot, he would shew 
himself frequently to three, four or more Light Horse- 
men, just in order to have sport with them. This it was 
said he often done, and after keeping them in hot pur- 
suit of him for some time, would make good his retreat 
to his fastnesses or mountain thickets ancl thereby ensure 
his escape. To do this, was said to be play for him. — 
But well as he could imitate Sampson of old in escaping 
he was betrayed into the hands of his pursuers at last, 
by a woman. There was a woman in the neighborhood 
at whose house Frees and some of his men frequently ren- 
dezvoused, but with respect to his betrayal she came 
Delilah over him completely. At the time of his cap- 
ture he had visited her house and as he had done previ- 
ous in his confidence in her he did now, he threw down 
his pistols upon a table in one of the rooms in her house. 
He then walked about quite unconcerned, he having not 
the least suspicion of her possessing a treacherous spirit 
towards him. She was employed as an accessary in the 
furtherance of a plot which was being laid for his appre- 
hension. No doubt, she was well paid for the part she 
took in the transaction, although for the good, the peace 
and welfare of the country, it was necessary that he 
should be captured, but in her yielding herself as an in- 
strument to accomplish it, reflects no credit upon her as 
a woman in whom he had placed the most implicit con- 
fidence, and under whose roof (as regarded herself) he 
had always considered himself perfectly safe. What 
will not a woman do, who is base enough at heart to 
sacrifice affections at the shrine of her mercenary inter- 
ests? Dear as the sex ought to be held in the estima- 
tion of every honorable man, it must be said however, 
that such women could not be controlled by the agency 
of any honorable or virtuous principle, and would stop 
at nothing. 

When Captain Frees was quite at ease in his own 
mind, and perfectly at home within himself, she had a 
number of men concealed. After she had locked or 
fastened all the outer doors of ber house, she cried out 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 333 

to our American Sampson that the Philistines were upon 
him, and at her signal the concealed soldiery rushed into 
the room, sprung upon him, and secured him. He was 
immediately conveyed to prison to await a trial for trea- 
son. 

After the capture of Frees, we were ordered to march 
to a place four or five miles off. Ii being late in the 
evening when w^e received marching orders, w^e did not 
get under way before dark. Shortly after night set in, 
we were marched off in silence. Soon after starting w^e 
commenced to ascend a mountain, and when near to the 
top of it, the officers called a halt, and ordered that every 
man should load his piece, stating that there was a body 
of the liberty boys but a short distance ahead of us, and 
for every man to hold himself in readiness for action. — 
We then moved forward until we gained the summit of 
the mountain. When we arrived at this commanding 
spot upon th§ mountain, we beheld a great many hres 
lighted up along the foot of the next ridge. Now was 
the time to tell who was a soldier — who was brave and 
who was a coward. Some became very sick, and others 
became very lame, some complained of one thing and 
some complained of another. The baggage wagons 
having arrived, these self-sick and self-lamed fellow^s 
were crammed into them, and w^e then began to descend 
the mountain. ' I smelt a rat^ but said nothing. I 
believed it was all a sham, and just done to try the spunk 
of the men. We continued our march until we arrived 
at the fires, and there being no enemy about, the soldiers 
were ordered to stack their arms. Soon after our bag- 
gage wagons drove up, and then Surgeon Green, to 
whom the scheme was known, went to them with medi- 
cine, for the purpose of administering it to the sick, but 
finding nothing wrong with their pulses, legs, feet or 
stoniachs, informed them that they were getting better 
very fast, and w^ere all likely to do well. After pitching 
our tents, we took a bite to eat, and as it was now w^ell 
on to morning, we laid us down and slept soundly until 
day break. We arose and beat the reveille. After the 



334 • LIFE OF 

men formed the line and the rolls were called, we then 
drew our rations. Our invalid soldiers of the night be- 
fore were all upon the ground, and stood ready to re- 
ceive as full a ration, each, as the most healthy, sound 
and able bodied man in the whole army. cowardice ! 
many are the enemies you conjure up in the imagina- 
tions of men. 

We laid at this place perhaps a week. There being 
a general review^ of all the troops engaged in the expedi- 
tion about to be held not far from Millerstown, we were 
ordered back to that place for the purpose of joining in 
the review.. There were from 6,000 to 10,000* Light 
' Horsemen present, and constituted one of the most grand 
and imposing sights I had ever beheld any where. It 
appeared to a person occupying the centre of the line, 
as though the right and left wings of the line were endless- 
Shortly after we were reviewed by the commander-in- 
chief of all the forces in the field, (peace being restored, 
or rather the insurrectionary spirit quelled, and the Gov- 
ernment having no more call for our services,) we were 
marched on our return towards Reading, where,, upon 
our arrival, we were immediately discharged. 

Captain .F^^ees in the course of some time received his 
trial, was found guilty and sentenced to he hanged. 
His sentence was approved. A gallows was erected in 
Quakertown, not far from his residence. The day pro- 
posed for his execution having. arrived, he was conduct- 
ed to the gallows. It was said (for I was not present,) 
that he marched as bold and undaunted thither as a lion. 
He was reprieved, however, when on or under the gal- 
low^s. . Captain Frees was a fearless man, and in a bet- 
ter cause, his innate daring courage, would have shewn 
as conspicuous as it would have been eminently service- 
able. He was of rather an amiable disposition, his de- 
portment civil and obliging. I have often played long 
bullets with him in Quakertown since, and he was rather 
too much for me, and was the only man I could have 



*The number of soldiers ordered out Uiistime by Government, may have 
been a much greater one. 



CAPT.4IN SAMUEL DEWEE?. 335 

met with, out of perhaps five hundred, that could gain 
any thing from me in the game of long bullets. 

The next event I have to record is one that was a 
mournful event, deep and heart-felt sorrow pervaded all 
ranks and conditions of persons in the United States, 
tories excepted. It seemed as if the great fountains of 
tenderness were broken up and the gloriously bright ark 
of Republicanism was dashing tempest tossed in fearful 
hopings against hope (as to the future) upon its mighty 
bosom. A leader, a saviour, a founder, a father, a pa- 
triot, a cherished and loved head and protector of his 
Columbia was gone. News arrived at Reading that the 
great and good Washington, first in war, first in peace, 
and first in the hearts ot" his countrymen was no more. 
The news seemed like a dream, although all knew that 
it was but top fearfully true, but such was the fact, it 
could scarcely be believed. Washington dead ? He 
was mortal, he could not be retained in life, the wishes 
and prayers of millions could not have arrested the strong 
arm of the King of Terrors. Washington, although sin- 
cerely loved by a grateful people, had nevertheless to 
bow to the stern monarch of the grave, but in descen,d- 
ing to his tomb, he carried with him in his death, the 
high and anguish wrought, sorrowful feelings and faith- 
ful affections of a distressed and mourning.people. 

Immediately after the arrival of this sad news, a pub- 
lic meeting was held at the Court-House in Reading, 
and arrangements made lor a funeral procession. The 
Free Masons met at their Lodge, and made arrangements 
to join in the procession. A bright and exemplary broth- 
er had gone from a mystic Lodge upon earth, to join in 
membership with that Grand Lodge of transplendent 
and unconceived of brilliancy, holiness and glory above, 
and now, that the last funeral tribute was about to be 
paid, they could not be idle spectators. Two companies 
of volunteers, one commanded by Captain Keims, were 
ordered out. The procession formed in the following 
order: the military in front, then the coffin, then the or- 
der of Masons, then civil officers, and then the citizens. 



336 'LIFE OF 

The procession was fully a mile in length. It moved 
to a large church in Reading where the military, Masons 
and many of the citizens entered. The military moved 
in (preceded by the music) and placed the coffin in an 
aisle in front of the pulpit. There were from twelve to 
twenty ministers of the gospel present on the occasion. 
A funeral oration was delivered, after which the proces- 
sion moved through Philadelphia street and through 
some others of the principal streets of Reading, and then 
to a grave yard where ihe coffin carried in the proces- 
sion, was deposited with military honors in the tomb, 
and with as much solemnity as though the body of a 
beloved Washington had been enshrined within it. It 
was a day of mourning surely. His immense services 
were known, his worth was acknowledged, the Repub- 
lic was in its infiincy, and none could offer a guarentee 
that in an emergency, another Washington could be found 
to lay hold of the helm of the ship of State and steer her 
into the port of safety. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

In the year 1 removed my family to Peddlehouzer_, 

a small town situated in Lancaster county. Here 1 w^as 
employed by one Philip Coplin to keep his race horses. 

At one time we were returning from a journey, having 
two race horses (and a mare that I was then riding) 
with us. We stopped not far from Lancaster, and 
where there were two side or summer roads alongside 
of the turnpike. Said Coplin to me, " suppose we try 
the mare that you are riding, in order to see how she 
will run with the Crab horse." This horse had never 
been beaten. I told him if he w^ished to know her botr 
tom, I would run her against his horse. At the time I 
had a blanket under my saddle, and entirely forgot to 
take it off. Our race rider gave us the word *go,' and 
we started, the mare doing well, but whilst at full speed 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES 337 

' (owing to the blanket) my saddle turned, and I was 
dashed head forward on the hard and stony turnpike. 
Coplin and our rider carried me to the fence on one side 
of the road. He stated afterwards that to all appear- 
ance, I was dead. The mare ran into Lancaster at full 
speed, with the saddle hanging under her belly. The 
rider staid with me, whilst Coplin mounted his horse 
and started post-haste to Lancaster for a physician. On 
the way, however, he met a number of persons running, 
who supposed some person had been killed. Among 
those he met, there was a Doctor, w4io was conveyed as 
quickly to me as possible. When the Doctor w^as en- 
gaged in examining my head, 1 possessed some little 
consciousness for the first time. Upon opening my eyes 
and seeing a crowd standing about me, I asked them 
Avhat they were about. I then heard the Doctor say 
that the scull w^as cracked, but that there was no danger. 
He then sewed up the gash which had been made on 
the left side of the crown of my head. As he was doing 
this, I asked him what the matter was, but he told me 
to hold still a little while. After the Doctor liad finish- 
ed dressing ray head, a number of them carried me into 
Lancaster, and on the next day Coplin took me to my 
home in Peddlehouzer. It was not very long before my 
head healed, but I had a continual head-ache for more 
than two months afterwards. 

I lost my first wife, who died in on the 4th 

of December, 1806. I had but one child living, (a so»,) 
whom I bound, sometime after my wife's decease, to a 
Tailor of the name of Bumbarger, in Lancaster. I then 
made sale of my household goods, and set out to travel 

through old and new Virginia, and through . I 

was absent from two to three years. 

After my return from Virginia I married a young 
woman of the name of Lydda Sprenkle, whose parents 

lived in . 

When I lived in Lancaster about the year 1810, I 
owned a horse and chair, and there was a man sent to 
me, who lived in the town of Sunbury in Northumber- 
29 



338 • LIFE OF 

land county, Pa., who -wished me to convey him to his 
home. He offered to compensate me liberally, and I 
agreed to convey him thither. I told him, however, 
that I had just traded for a horse, and did not knovvj 
w^hether he would work or not, but that I was about to 
try him in harness, and if he would work, I w^ould accept^ 
his offer. I harnessed my horse and hitched him to the 
chair, and drove him up and down the street, and fcund 
that he worked very well, except that he was a little too 
spirited in harness. We immediately got in readiness*' 
and started for Sunbury, stopping that night at Harris- 
burg. The next morning we started on our journey 
again. We stopped and took something to drink att 
Coxtown, a small place five miles above Harrisburg oni, 
the Susquehanna river. The road laid on the bank of^ 
the river and quite high above the water, perhaps thirty 
or forty feet. The side of the hill below the road was.' 
exceedingly steep, and was covered w'ith rocks and trees. J 
I had no martingale on my horse. About one hundred 1' 
yards from the shore of the river, there was an island 
where there were some wood-choppers at w^ork. We 
happened to have our attention arrested somewhat, and I 
were looking in the direction of the choppers, when alii 
at once my horse took fright at the rattling of the chain 
on the rough road (as we supposed,) and sprang furious--; 
ly forward. I could have held and managed him, butt 
my passenger seized one rein or side of the lines nexttf 
to the river, for the purpose of assisting me to hold him,.j 
This pulled him towards the bank, and over we went t 
and down into the river. Had we gone ov^er a rod or^ 
two further along the road, we would have been smash- | 
ed to pieces upon the huge and ragged rocks, but as i 
Providence would have it, where we struck the river [ 
beach, it abounded with sand. I clambered up to my ^ 
feet tlie best way T could, and dashed in to save my j 
horse from being drowmed, but found that I could not " 

lift my arm, for it was out of place. The w^ood- ' 

choppers having seen us dashing down the steep, andi 
beholding our perilous situation at the bottom, jumped :L 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 339 

into their boat and came in a very short time to our help. 
They lifted my horse up and brought him out of the 
water, and strange to relate, he was not hurt. They 
then pulled my arm into place. We were in a pretty 
pickle, my passenger grunting like a porker, and I scold- 
ing like a Xantippe's wife, and the wood-choppers swear- 
ing that they would not take the same ride and chance 
for the town of Harrisburg and the whole country around 
it. The wood-chop})ers took the horse and chair fully 
a half mile up along the river shore before they could 
ascend with them to the road again. They told the 
landlord at the tavern we went to, of the great accident 
that befel us, who said he never had heard of such a 
scrape in all his life. I was afraid to trust my horse in 
the chair any more, and so did not know what to do. — 
The landlord said that he had a good horse, very strong, 
and which would not scare. He observed that if my 
horse was a good riding horse, he would exchange with 

me until my return. He said he had to qo but to 's 

town between that time and my return, and my horse 
would answer his purpose. I accepted his kind offer, 
had his horse hitched up, and away we then started and 
stopped that night at a town called Halifax. We were 
off next morning bright and early, as we were desirous 
to reach Sunbury early the next morning, in order to be 
in time for the races, which were to come off upon that 
day at Sunbury. 

There was a poor man who lived near to the race 
ground, whose wife had been confined but the night pre- 
vious. This man had to start down the river with a raft 
on the morning of the races. He had a little girl five 
or six years old. The nurse (whom he had left with his 
wife) arose early and kindled a fire in the kitchen, after 
which she dressed the little girl, and having occasion to 
go to a neighbor's house for milk, left the little girl alone 
in the kitchen. It being a cold morning the child (as 
was supposed) stood too near to the fire for the purpose 
of warming itself, and its apron took fire. The fire then 
communicated itself to its other clothing which were 



340 • LIFE OF 

composed of cotton. She then ran out of the house and 
the wind caused her clothing to burn faster and drove 
the blaze with more violence against her body which 
was burned (its outside) to a crisp. This caused her 
death. Most of the people of Sunbury ran to see this 
distressing sight. There was a collection made upon 
the race course and about one hundred dollars were rais- 
ed for the mother. Next morning I started for home, 
and after passing through Halifax, I met with the father 
of the little girl that was burned to death. I asked him 
if he had heard from home, he said he had not, I observ- 
ed you have not heard then of the sad accident which 
has happened, no was his reply, and asked me eagerly 
what it was. I then told him that his little girl had been 
burned to death. Upon hearing this, he hung down his 
head and wept sore. I thought it best to tell him, and 
seeing that it made such an impression upon him I felt 
very unpleasant myself, and was glad to part with him 
and pursue my journey homewards. When I arrived 
at the house of my friend, the landlord who had furnish- 
ed me with a horse, I found he was very well pleased 
with my horse and 1 being as well pleased with his, we 
were induced to knock up a trade and make an exchange 
of horses for good, which we did, I then started for 
home very well satisfied indeed. When relating at home 
my great accident and miraculous escape, I caused quite 
a surprise. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

On the 1st of April, 1813, I removed my family to 
Manchester, situated on the turnpike road leading from 
Baltimore to Carlisle and in Baltimore (now Car- 
rol) county, Maryland. As the second war was raging 
at this time, every nerve of the friends of LIBERTY and 
INDEPENDENCE was braced in noble exertions to 
give countenance and support to the measures of the 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEVVEES. 341 

general and States' Governments for defence. The cla- 
rion of war had been loudly and voluntarily (although 
reluctantly) sounded in the declaration of war on the 
J8th of June, 1812. It then behoved the friends of 
justice, Liberty, free trade and sailors' rights to rally 
around their dearest constitutional freedom, and stand 
ready to repel the invading attacks of a foreign oppres- 
sor. 

As I have before stated, the war was raging when I 
removed to Manchester in Maryland, and it seemed like 
old times, there was that to defend and maintain, which 
I had contributed something towards gaining in the dark 
days of a severe Revolutionary struggle. I felt as 
though I ought to stand erect once more in defence of 
a waving Star Spangled Banner, my home and the free 
institutions of my country. Although considerably above 
the age of forty-five, I hired to play the fife for a re- 
cruiting party in the town of Hanover in York county, 
Pa. At that place I remained until a considerable num- 
ber of men were enlisted. I played the company off to- 
•wards Carlisle barracs, and then returned to my home 
at Manchester. 

Shortly after my return to Manchester Captain Hive- 
ly's company of Volunteer Riflemen of were call- 
ed on to go to Baltimore. There were some of the mem- 
bers of this company that were trembling with fear and 
were -willing to give a pretty fair price for substitutes, I 
engaged to go in the room of a member of the name of 
Stone Syfert. I would have gone in some capacity or 
other, and I thought that I might as well take his money 
and go in his place. S)fert was not a fifer, but I being 
such, \vas immediately called into that service, for which 
I received an additional sum besides his pay. 

All things being in readiness, we marched direct to 
Baltimore (distant 30 miles) and were then marched 
down to North Point where we encamped. We were 
not many days at North Point. There being no call for 
us there, we were marched back and encamped at Chin- 
quepin Hill. We were not long here however, until we 
29* 



342 LIFE OF 

were discharged. We all returned immediately to our 
homes at and near to Manchester. 

We were not very long at home, until a call was made 
upon the militia of Baltimore and other counties in Mary- 
land. This draft caused another great bustle about 
Manchester, and substitutes were again in great demand. 
This time I enoasred for one Andrew Schseflfer, a mem- 
ber of Captain Kerlinger's Company. Schsefier was not 
a lifer either, but I was called as before to do duty in 
the musical department. We received marching orders 
and ap'ain set out for Baltimore. When we arrived at 
that place, we were marched out to Chinquepin Hill, 
where we pitched our tents. W^e did not lie here very 
long, until w^e were again discharged and sent home. 

The next Spring (1814) my second wife died, and her 
decease was immediately followed by the death of one 
of my children. 

After being subjected to these bereavements, I sold off 
my household goods, purchased a horse and started (in- 
tending to go) out to the State of Ohio to make search 
for my brother Thomas, who I was informed, had re- 
moved there. My horse becoming lame I was unable 
to proceed farther than Bloody Run, a few miles below 
Bedford, Pa. I put up at Moyers' Hotel. The land- 
lord used me very well, and procured pasture for my 
horse. Finding that on account of the lameness of my 
horse I would be forced to abandon my design for a time, 
I set in to work at shoemaking. Here I remained until 
another ^'rumpus," — another call was made upon the 
militia. I immediately '■^packed kitV^ and started back 
to Manchester, Maryland. 

Upon my return I found that the troops of Manchester 
and its neighborhood had already gone down to Balti- 
more. I mounted my horse immediately and rode down 
to their camp, which was situated above Baltimore and 
near to the ''Fall's Road." I called to see Captain 
Showers of Dug Hill District. He desired me to come 
and play the fife for his company, but his not offering 
me as much pay as 1 believed myself entitled to, I did 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 343 

not consent to stay. Still, if I had had my clothes with 
me and ray horse at home, I would have staid. Thus 
circumstanced, I concluded to go home to Manchester 
and then return again to Baltimore. The troops return- 
ed to Manchester before I was able to join them, they 
having been again discharged soon after I was at camp. 

The races at Bladensburg (for so was the retreating 
called) had commenced, the news of which, the burning 
of the Capitol, with the call and orders to march caused 
a great commotion throughout the country. At Man- 
chester and surrounding neighborhoods there was quite 
a confusion — a gloom was cast upon the face of society 
generally. I again set out for Baltimore and attached 
myself to Captain Showers' company. The militia and 
volunteer troops were pouring in from all quarters. I 
had a son in Lancaster whom as I have before stated, 
I had bound out to learn the tailoring business. He 
was now free, and was among the drafted militia from 
Lancaster lying at this time at Baltimore. Here he re- 
mained until the war was ended. 

Sometime after peace was established Captain Hook 
was recruiting in Baltimore, and William (my son) en- 
listed in the regular service. Captain Hook's company 
was ordered on to Pensacola, in Florida, and was then 
attached to Captain Wagers' company of Light Dra- 
goons. W^hen William's time had nearly expired, I re- 
ceived a letter from Captain Wagers which informed me 
that my son William Dewees for his good conduct as a 
soldier, would shortly be appointed Ensign of the com- 
pany. But how short lived are our best hopes and 
brightest expectations. In a few weeks after receiving 
Captain Wagers' first letter containing this cheering in- 
telligence, I received from him a second letter sealed 
with two black seals which informed me of my son's 
death, and that the whole camp was in mourning for 
him. My readers may now see what myself and family 
have endured for the liberties and prosperity of our com- 
mon country. 

But to return to ray account of military operations on 



344 'life OF 

and about Chinquepin Hill and Baltimore. Whilst we 
lay here I had to play for two regiments, and beside 
doing this, .1 had to play for some others, upon some par- 
ticular occasions. I had to play the reveille at the break 
of day, at sun-rise the long roU, the signal for the men 
to form ranks and answer lo their names. This is call- 
ed roll call. After breakfast I had to play for the beat- 
ing up of the troop down and up the parade grounds. — 
Then play the guards to ihe'ir statio7is , and often the fa- 
tigue men when marched oiT to duty. Sometimes I had 
to play the piquet guards out to Bear Creek, and some- 
times nearly to North Point. Then I ( with my drum- 
mer) would have to hurry back and play the long roll 
again, a signal to summon the men on parade, prepara- 
tory to their going through with their maneuvers or mili- 
tary evolutions which generally consumed an hour or 
two. At three o'clock in the afternoon I had to play 
the long roll again for the exercising of the men with 
arms in hand — in learning the manual exercise. Then 
about sun-down I had to play the retreat, down and 
up the parade grounds for roll call. At nine o'clock 
at night, I had to play tattoo a signal for all to retire 
to rest. Sometimes I was sent for to play the roast 
beef for other regiments. At other times, I was sent 
for to play the Roo'ue''s March. There were few mu- 
sicians in the militia, and among some of the. volun- 
teers from different parts of the country that could play 
many of these tunes. J was almost every hour of the day 
upon duty. Whilst at Baltimore, I done double and 
treble duty and more. The time of the Western Ex- 
pedition or W^hiskey Insurrection, I had a great deal to 
do in the way of playing the fife, but at Baltimore, I 
played (at times) more in one day than I ever played in 
six at any time in all my life previous ; Revolutionary 
war and all. So my readers may judge, whether I had 
good times or bad ones at Baltimore. I can state, how- 
ever, that it was necessary and was therefore my duty. 
The day of the battle of North Point, was a sore day 
for some poor fellows that stood their ground whilst oth- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 345 

er cowardly rascals ran off and cleared themselves for 
home, with all the speed possible for cowards to muster 
or call to their aid, to assist them in sacrificing honor, 
country, Liberty and all. 

On the night of the bombardment of Fort McHenry, 
large fires were built by the British in order as was sup- 
posed to deceive the Americans. We could distinctly 
see them wdiilst they were w^alking around them. Whilst 
this was done at the British camp, a large body of troops 
was despatched on board of boats with muffled oars to 
enter the city by the Spring Gardens. The boats were 
discovered by the commanders of the batteries, who or- 
dered a brisk fire to be kept up against them. After 
the first discharge of cannon, the cries of the British for 
quarters were loud and piteous indeed ; but our brave 
buckskins had no. time to listen to their cries for quar- 
ters, but gave it to them hotter and hotter until the whole 
detachment consisting of about tw^elve hundred men 
were either driven to the bottom, there to find a watery 
grave or retreated precipitately by descending the stream, 
as none were captured, and judging from the unprece- 
dented numerous cries for quarters it is to be supposed 
and justly, that the whole body perished in its wild and 
hazardous scheme. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

During the battle, bombardments and skirmishes, our 
regiments wnth many others, laid in w^aiting w-ithin the 
intrenchments. These w-ere filled with mud and water 
almost mid-leg deep, for it rained much of the time and 
the nights were very dark and foggy. At other times, I 
could see a good many more company ofiiicers, as well 
as more field officers. I did not behold a single officer 
belonging to the county troops during those nights of 
suffering and danger, but Major George Timanus. I 
may do others injustice, but not willingly \ he only min- 



346 tIFE OF 

istered to our necessities and had it not been for this 
manly, kind hearted and brave officer, our men would 
have suffered much more than they did. He came along 
the intrenchments with baskets, containing bread and 
liquor and ordered the sergeants to give every man to 
eat and to drink. The Major always asked for me. I 
recollect that on one occasion, the Major asked for me, 
and was told that my Drummer and myself had gotten 
muskets and were standing in the intrenchments. He 
then called out Dewees ! Dewees ! 1 answered him. 
Coming along the embankment, opposite to where I 
was, he asked me what I was doing there. I told him 
we thought we could make music and fight a little too, 
if it should be necessary. He then bade us to come 
up on the embankment and take something to eat and 
something to drink, which I can assure my readers we very 
willingly did, for a more acceptable thing could not 
have been then offered to us. He then asked us to play, 
^'Yankee Doodle." There was more danger in being 
up there than there was perhaps in being down in the 
intrenchments, but w^e did not care for that, so we went 
to work and played and beat the Major's favorite air in 
our best style, w^hich pleased him very much. 

There was a very lengthy rope-walk near to the in- 
trenchments, this it was thought the British might get 
behind or into, and use as a kind of bulwark, which 
had they done, they could have annoyed us very much 
by their fires, and by its aid could have prevented us 
from playing properly upon them in return. This walk, 
was fired by orders of the commanding General at Bal- 
timore. As soon as day-light appeared next morning, 
there was a great laugh raised among the soldiers in the 
intrenchments, one would say to another you look as 
black as cuffee — just like a negro, and that one would re- 
ply, and say, you are as black as the devil yourself. Prop- 
erly speaking one could not laugh at another wnthout 
laughing at himself. It is true we were a dark looking 
set of fellows. That we were thus blacked, was owing to 
the black smoke created by the burning of such great quan- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEVVEES. 347 

titles of rope, rosin, tar, pitch, &c. &c, deposited in the 
rope-walk. The very black smoke being swept by the 
current of air all along the intrenchments alighted upon 
our faces in its aerial flight, and caused the metamor- 
phose as above stated. The burning of this rope-walk 
created a very brilliant light, whilst it lasted, and was 
the occasion (no doubt) of great alarm to many of the 
inhabitants of the city and surrounding country, that 
beheld it at a distance, and knew not the cause. And 
perhaps it gave accelerated speed to the heels of some 
great cowards too. 

^'The British meetingthe reception they did when Ross 
fell — their reception by General Strieker and his men 
w'hen Colonel Brooke led the British on to the attack — 
their imbecile efforts to reduce Fort's McHenry and Cov- 
ington by bombardment — the destruction of their barges 
and the British troops they contained — the complete 
failure in their attempt to storm our works and enter the 
•city. In short, their failing in every attempt (by being- 
opposed and foiled in every quarter in which they made 
an effort) so completely enshrouded them in the mantle 
of disappointment and gloom, that they shrunk back dis- 
couraged and disheartened, and with the deepest morti- 
lication imaginable, betook themselves silently to their 
shipping, and retreated gladly, no doubt, from the waters 
of the Chesapeake. But if they did, it was ibr a,fate, if 
not more awful, full as certain to very many of them in the 
battle-field before New Orleans, (when beaten in an un- 
paralleled slaughter by an unscared and well qualified 
Jackson, and his brave officers and companions in arms) 
as fell to the lot of their fallen comrades before the city 
of Baltimore." — Hamia's Glory of Columbia. 

After the British had embarked on board the shipping, 
the farmers near to the battle ground at North Point, 
gathered up two w^agon-bodies full of dead bodies that 
had Iain scattered and unburied through the w^oods. — 
These dead soldiers had belonged to both armies. The 
farmers brought them to camp, and laid them upon the 
ground in the form of a ring. This, I think, was the 



348 •LIFE OF 

cause of a good many soldiers deserting the night after. 
I observed one of the Red- Coats that had a face as large 
as the top of a half-bushel ; he had been a large bodied 
man when living, but now, by being so swollen, he was 
a much larger one. There were a number of women 
came to search for husbands, sons and brothers. There 
w^as one, as she neared the ring of dead bodies, recog- 
nized the body of her husband. She screamed awfully, 
and exclaimed ^'My God, there is the body of my dear 
husband. '^ His bowels were lying beside his body. — 
Others were recognized by other women as belonging to 
them in different relations. I cleared myself, for 1 could 
not endure the heart-rending cries of the women when 
in possession of their insupportable grief. Some of these 
dead bodies may have been taken away by friends and 
interred in grave-yards, but most of them were buried 
immediately in " Potter's Field," that was close to 
where they had been placed for recognition by their 
friends. 

There were a number of British soldiers that had de- 
serted shortly after the British had first landed, who had 
came and joined the American standard. When the 
British prisoners captured at or after the battle of North 
Point were marched through the American camp, some 
of the deserters that had enlisted in the American ser- 
vice, either spoke to the British prisoners or were recog- 
nized by them. The captured British soldiers com- 
menced to curse and damn the deserters in round terms 

for traitors, cowards, &c. *'0h you d dtuni- coats j^^ 

" You treacherous cowards, let a man always stick to 
his country," "Let a man be a man, and not turn against 

his country and his fellow soldiers, and act the d d 

coward and traitor," &c. &c. 

Here I must relate a circumstance or two of rather a 
humorous cast, that transpired one evening when we 
were occupying the intrenchments. The whole of the 
men were made to go through their exercises of sham- 
firing. This was to drill them, and prepare them for re- 
ceiving the British in their attack, which was hourly 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 349 

expected. There was one company, whose Captain was 
really sick, (some officers only feigned to be so,) and 
had been for a week previous. In the absence of the 
Captain, the Lieutenant had the command, but was so 
terribly scared that he could not give the-word of com- 
mand. I believe he tried to do so, but could not be 
heard by the men. One part to be performed was to 
step up out of the intrenchments and go through with 
the motion of firing. Seeing such a coward, and also, 
that the men were in a very awkward situation, I step- 
ped up and said to the men, "I will give you the word 
of command," and the proffer was very readily accepted 
by the company. The arrangement was, that the front 
rank of each company was to advance, step up out of 
the intrenchroent, and from behind a breastwork, go 
through the motions of firing. This done, the rear rank 
was then to advance and do likewise, whilst the front 
rank should retire to reload. This manoeuvering was 
performed in a sham way, but for the purpose of perfect- 
ing the men in the art of firing. The company in ac- 
cordance with my orders, had performed thus (the froiit 
and rear ranks,) alternately for some time, when Major 
Timanus, (who w^as passing along the line at the time) 
called out "Dewees, ■ what are you doing here? Is 
there no officer here to command this company?" I 
answered "Yes, there is one, (pointing at the same time 
to the Lieutenant,) but he cannot speak, he is almost 
scared to death." " D — n him," said Timanus, then 
brandishing his sword, said " I have a notion to cut oft 
his cowardly head." " No," said I, " I know that if the 
British comes, he will run, but never mind, I have a good 
pistol in my belt, and it has a good bullet and three 
buckshot in it, and so I shall watch him, and as soon as 
he offers to run, I shall shoot him in his rear." "No," 
said Timanus, " 9 — n him, shoot him in the head, for 
cowards that wont stand for-their country in the time of 
her greatest danger ought to be shot down as dead as 
bullocks." I am not to be understood as giving this as 
the Major's precise language, but it was tantamount 
30 



350 ,LIFE OF 

thereto. Language, that was responded to by most, 
or all of the members of the company. My readers may 
judge of the pusillanimous things (for I cannot call him 
a soldier,) when I state that he stood like a marble statue, 
and never opened his mouth to the Major or myself, 
either to applaud or excuse his own cowardly conduct. 
This fellow I had known for some little time previous, 
and he was a bold, boisterous, bragging fellow among 
his men when immediate danger did not threaten us. — 
He was always bragging, boasting and brave, or at least 
wanted others to esteem him as such. 

A piquet guard had been chosen a few days before, in 
the morning, and in the course of the afternoon was order* 

ed to march down near to the mouth of Creek. 

Syfert (Drummer) and myself were detached from our 
company to play them towards the place of their desti- 
nation. Ceasing to beat, however, after being distant 
from the camp a mile or two. 

A Captain whose name I do not now recollect, but 
who was a gentlemanly oilicer, a soldier, and a brave 
one too, was the commander of the piquet guard upon 
that occasion. This officer understood his duty well, for 
I had a perfect knowledge of what an officer's duty was, 
or should be upon such occasions, knowing this, I am 
the better able to make this acknowledgment for the 
Captain. When this guard was chosen, the Lieutenant 
I have alluded to, was appointed to bear a part in plant- 
ing it as a piquet. We commenced our march down- 
wards and arrived at a farm house near to the river and 
to where the piquets were to be planted. The inmates 
of the family were extremely glad to see us arrive and 
gave us a hearty welcome. The man of the house was 
a farmer, and w^is quite patriotic in spirit, kind and 
clever. He told the women of his family to put on their 
kettles and to bring some of the best of their hams, and 
boil them quickly, and prepare victuals for us. He then 
sent off some of his negroes immediately for a keg of 
grog. Some of the farmers of the present day were they 
similarly circumstanced would either choose to be caught 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 351 

with a sheep upon their backs, each, or let the British 
in, rather than go to the same expense, or do the same 
'* abominable act'' as many of them would no doubt 
call it. 

In good season, he gave us both to eat and to drink 
and then bestowed upon us the liberty of his house to 
billet in. After we had refreshed ourselves, the Captain 
marched off with half of our number in silence and plant- 
ed it as a piquet-guard. The Lieutenant remained with 
us at the house with orders to march the other half off 
at midnight, to relieve the piquets which the Captain 
had set. 

When twelve o'clock arrived, Syfert, my drummer, 
came to me where I was lying asleep upon a bench, in 
front of the house and awoke me. He told me that the 
Lieutenant had ordered him to bring me, and for us then 
to beat up the long roll. I said " My God," would he 
ask us to do such a thing as this. I told him to tell the 
Lieutenant that I would not do any such thing, and for- 
bid him (Syfert,) upon the peril of his life, to beat it. 
The Lieutenant then came himself, and ordered me to 
play for Syfert. I told him plainly that I would not. 
stating at the same time that his duty was to form his 
men in silence, and for none to speak above their breath 
by the way. He insisted on me to play the fife, and I 
persisted in saying that I would not, and that Syfert 
should not use a drumstick upon his drum. He then 
formed his men, and went and brought alighted candle 
and a fire-brand ; this was to relight the candle wdth, in 
case it should go out. The candle he handed to Syfert 
and the fire-chunk he offered to me, but I refused to take 
it from him. I told him he should take neither candle 
nor a fire-chunk with him, but he persisted in doing so, 
saying that it was too dark to go without a light. I 
told him I would not carry it ; he said I should do it. 
I at length took the fire-chunk, and we then started. — 
We had not gone but a few yards until I stuck the 
chunk of fire its whole length down into a mud-hole, and 
left it there. I then blew out the candle, which was in 



352 LIFE OF 

the hands of Syfert. The Lieutenant stopped hnediate- 
ly, called a halt and asked me where ray fire-chunk was. 
I told him plainly that I had stuck it into a mud-hole, 
and that he should not have any light at all, for that if 
there were British any where about, they could see a 
light a great way off, and that if they would behold our 
light, they woufd at once despatch a detachment to sur- 
prise and capture us, and told him again, that it w^as his 
duty to march his men off to their posts, and plant them 
with the greatest caution and in the greatest silence. 

Whilst I was lecturing him thus in the dark, the Cap- 
tain, who had seen the light, came running as hard as 
he could to meet us, and exclaimed, "In the name of 
God, why have you a light here?" I told him that there 
had been both a light and a chunk of fire, but that I had 
stuck the chunk into a mud-hole, and had blowni out the 
light. The Captain w^as much pleased w^ith me for what 
I had done, and stood behind my every act and justified 
them. I told him of his wanting us to beat the British 
an index tune, in order that they might know^ exactly 
our where and whereabouts, and come and take us pri- 
soners. This (my refusal,) he justified also in a manly 
and soldierly manner. He w^as much displeased with 
the Lieutenant for his cow^ardly and imprudent conduct. 

The Captain then lead us down, and relieved the 
piquet guard upon duty, by planting his men in their 
stead, and then returned w^ith us and his relieved por- 
tion of the guard to the farm-house, leaving the Lieu- 
tenant (who had little or nothing to do) to hide himself 
and tremble until daylight. 

On our return to the house, I found myself very weary 
and sleepy. I looked around for some place to lie dow^n,- 
or rather for something to lie upon, and found a kind of 
a pato in the kitchen, which belonged to one of the 
wenches. On this, I laid me down,' and in a very few 
minutes fell fast asleep, and slept soundly till the morn- 
ing. 

As soon as it w^as day, the piquet guard w^as brought 
off, and very soon after we marched for camp again, not 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 353 

making any music until arriving well on towards our 
encampment. When we had gotten far enough from 
the house where we billetted, we then cheered our cow- 
ardly and '^ all- scared?'' Lieutenant's spirits, (for certain- 
ly they needed cheering,) by a roWy row, dow, did, dee, 
diddee, doiu, dow, dow, in our own style of performing. 

It was said by some of our men in the morning, that 
when on piquet guard the past night, they had heard dis- 
tinctly the muffled oars of the British barge-men in their 
passage over the river in the night. Piquet guards were 
always chosen after roll call in the morning, and were 
under the control of the ''officer of the grand rounds," 
or " officer of the day." I frequently assisted in play- 
ing -the piquet guards out some distance from the camp 
and in again, but never was called on to accompany 
them to tliat far point of their destination again. 

I recollect of a very humorous incident occurring with 
one of the guard whilst we laid at Baltimore. One night 
two or three officers were going the " grand rounds," 
'in order to try the guards. A young man, a Dutchman, 
was one of the guard, and he had been told by the Ser- 
geant of the relief-guard, and perhaps by some of the 
soldiers on guard duty with him, that he being young 
and inexperienced, must take good care, or that those 
coming in the night, would coax or force him out of his 
musket, and would take it away from him. During the 
night when he heard the officers approach, who were 
going the " grand rounds," he ran to a kind of a ditch 
that was near by, and hid his musket. Upon their near 
approach, he hailed them with " who comes there," 
they answered " grand rounds," and advanced and gave 
the countersign. The officers asked him what he had 
done with his musket. "Ah," (said he) ^^ youzneetnod 
dink dil kits myne muzgit. I Iiiz hit mine muzgit.^^ — 
The officers could not think what to make of the fellow 
and his conduct, for his language was strange, truly. 
They called for the Sergeant of the guard, and the poor 
fellow was then put under guard for his offence. His 
determination and conduct, although strange, was be- 
30* 



354 i-IFE OF 

gotten by a good motive, that of not suffering his musket 
to be taken away from him. Not like the Lieutenant, 
full of cowardice and no care as to what his duty was, 
he wanted to do his duty, and thought that he w^as doing 
it most faithfully when hiding his musket. His conduct 
w'as explained on the next day, to the satisfaction of all 
the officers, and he was released immediately. He was, 
however, often afterwards the subject of much sport at 
the hands of the soldiers, who knew him, for they would 
often plague him when they met him, with the expres- 
sion, " youz neet nod diiik dil kits myne muzgitj^^ &c. 
I obtained liberty at one time, to go into Baltimore. 
I met with some companions who with myself stopped 
at Merkle's Hotel. We all got a little tipsy and return- 
ed to camp about lour o'clock in the afternoon. Believ- 
ing that I would be put under arrest, I thought I w^ould 
take the luhip-harnd of my officers and save myself from 
being escorted to the guard-house. When 1 went to 
the guard-house to surrender myself, the sergeant of the 
guard would not receive me, but watching my opportu- 
nity I slipped in and sat down. I was not very long 
there, until Major Timanus came and asked me what I 
was doing there. 1 told him. He then asked me to 
go to my tent with him, I told him I would not, that I 
should remain where I was. He coaxed me to go and 
I started with him. He took me to my tent, and told 
me to lie down on my nice little bed that was waiting 
for me. I then laid me down, but after he w^ent away, 
I got up and went out again. The Major came after 
me a second time, and then took me to his marque and 
made me lie down there, wdiich I did, and my spree end- 
ed therewith. 

One day previous to the landing of the British at North 
Point, the commanding officers at Baltimore, took it into 
their heads (which was all right) to fire alarm guns (can- 
non) on Federal Hill. Upon hearing the first gun, Sy- 
fert my Drummer and myself, got in readiness. The 
second w^as fired and caused a terrible splutter among 
some of the soldiers in the different camps, and among 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 355 

(I may state) cowardly officers too. A soldier belong- 
ing to the company to which I was attached, came run- 
ning and enquiring ^Svhere is my tent," "where is my 
tent." He was so scared as not to be able to recog- 
nize his where and whereabouts. I told my drum-Major, 
Syfert, who w^as not very well experienced in camp mat- 
ters that if the third gun should not be fired there would 
be no danger to be apprehended, but still, for him to 
hold himself in readiness to follow me instantly in beat- 
ing "To Arms," "To Arms" should the third gun be 
fired. In this instance not very far from w^here I 
was, there were Drummers and Fifers thai would have 
beat any other tunes than the proper one, and some offi- 
cer would have had this done, had I not pointed out 
to them the duty of musicians upon such occasions. 

During our stay at Chinquepin Hill, I was sent for, 
from another camp. I immediately repaired thither, and 
found that the officers wanted me to play the Rogue's 
'March after a soldier. 

The soldiers of that camp were ordered to form a ring, 
which they did. There were three prisoners then brought 
out of the guard-house and conducted into the ring. The 
sentence of one w^as read, he was a soldier pretty well 
advanced in years. He was told that his punishment 
was death, by the law, but that as he was up in years, 
he had been dealt with in a lenient manner — that he was 
forgiven and therefore restored to his station in his com- 
pany. He thanked the officers for the merciful manner 
in which he had been dealt with, and then left the ring 
to go to his quarters. 

The sentence of a second was read. He was a little 
fellow and then a soldier, but was habited in a sailor's 
wide^ pantaloons and roundabout. His sentence had 
been death by the law too, but had been changed to that 
of having to receive five cobbs upon his buttocks. This 
sentence he appeared quite satisfied with, for he expect- 
ed to receive a far greater punishment, if not death it- 
self. One of ihe corporals or one of the musicians ob- 
served, that a barrel must be brought to lay him across, 



356 LIFE OF 

in order that he might be properly cobbed. General 
Stansbury observed " ! I suppose he can stoop down 
lonfT enough to receive that number of cobbs." "0 
yes, sir," "yes, sir," "yes, sir," (said the sailor) "you 
need not trouble yourselves to go for a barrel for I can 
stoop down that long." The Drummer to whom this 
duty was assigned, was of the name of BlufFord, and 
beat the drum for a company from somewhere about 
Reisterstown, in Baltimore county, and not being much 
of a Drummer, his knowledge of these matters was very 
limited. When the cobbing board (a kind of paddle 
such as boys use in playing cat-hall at school, made out 
of a piece of thick oak, but perforated with holes) was 
placed in his hands, he stepped up to a Drummer belong- 
ing to one of the Baltimore companies and asked him, 
" how shall I strike him, hard or light." The Baltimore 
Drummer replied, " you must strike him as hard as you 
can, for if you dont you will play the devil with your- 
self." BlufFord was left-handed, and when the little 
sailor stooped down to receive his five cobbs, he struck 
him with all his might and knocked the little fellow from' 
off his feet and forward some distance and on his head, 
throwing him almost upon his back by way of a sum- 
merset. The little fellow soon regained his feet, and 
scratching -the part affected, with a very rueful and ex- 
pressive countenance, exclaimed, "d — n my eyes." — 
*' Come, come," said General Stansbury, " no swear- 
ing, "~^' no swearing," The General then turned him- 
self to Blufford and said, "Drummer dont strike him so 
hard." Blufford then gave him the other four much 
lighter. This done, the little sailor was then told, that 
he was at liberty, and was restored to his station in his 
company, so he moved off, laughing heartily among 
hearty laughers, for the execution of his sentence had 
created great laughing among the soldiers. 

The sentence of the third prisoner, was then read to him. 
He was then informed, that his sentence was death by 
the law toojbut that it had been commuted to that, read in 
his hearing, which was that he was to ride the wood- 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL DEWEES. 357 

en-horse for fifteen minutes, whilst it would be borne 
upon the shoulders of two stout men, and have a mus- 
ket tied to each foot, and then be drummed off and away 
from the camp, with the Rogue's March beat after him. 
The crime he had committed was of the same kind of 
the little sailors, with this difference, the little sailor had 
taken the bounty twice, but he I think had taken it three 
times. Muskets were then fastened, one to each foot, 
<ind he was then placed on the wooden-horse or o^ail 
which was very sharp edged indeed. Two stout sol- 
diers then hoisted the rail with the prisoner upon it, to 
their shoulders and moved along with him. He was 
not more than cleverly up, until he began to quake like 
to an aspen leaf. General Stansbury, who was a very 
kind and mercifully disposed man, observed to his broth- 
er officers, that it was " too hard," and cried out (when 
he had not sat more than four minutes) on his wooden- 
hors'e, " let him downi," " let him down." They did 
so. We w^ere then ordered to beat up the Rogue's 
March, but the little sailor's cobbing match had so af- 
fected my risible organs, and so completely stored me 
with laughing propensities, that it w-as some time be- 
fore I could commence to play. The w^ord forward, w^as 
given and we moved off, our rail rider ahead of us, and 
guarded by a file or two of soldiers. The little sailor 
popping afresh into my mind frequently, as w^e march- 
ed along, T would as frequently make a balk through a 
rising laugh, and it w^as with the greatest difficulty that 
I could restrain myself. We marched out to the extreme 
of Chinquepin hill and sent him off with three cheers 
and three rolls of the drum. He then gave us (as was 
usual on all occasions of the kind,) a parting blessing 
and a polite farewell. 

Soon after this, we were all discharged and sent home. 
This last expedition to Baltimore, I suppose, put an end 
forever to my soldiering upon this earth. On my return 
from Baltimore, I kept my home at Manchester. After 
sometime I married my third wife, whose maiden name 
was Susan Stevor, This wife brought me two children, a 



358 RECOMMENDATIONS. 

son and a daughter, whose names are Andrew and Mary. 
They are still living. My third wife, Susan, has been 
deceased about twenty-four years. About five years 
after her decease, I married my fourth (present) wife. 
Her maiden name was Julian Fowble, but when I mar- 
ried her, her name was Julian Kelly. She was then a 
widow, with one child. This wife I obtained within a 
few miles of Manchester. 

With this wife I now reside in the neighborhood of 
Hampstead, and distant about two miles therefrom. 
Hampstead lies on the Turnpike-road leading from Bal- 
timore to Carlisle, and is distant from Baltimore twenty- 
six rniles. 

I have two wives, two father's- in-law, two mother's- 
in-law, one child, one grand child, and a great many of 
my three wive's relations lying in the grave-yard at Man- 
chester, and expect that ere long myself and fourth wife 
will be laid in the same burying grounds, and pray a 
Merciful God, that we may all rise at the last day, to 
Life everlasting, and to the Praise of the Eternal God, 
the Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. — Amen. 



RECOMMENDATIONS.* 

Certificate from Colonel George Timanus, of Baltimore. 
I do certify that Captain Samuel Dewees was under my command at Bal- 
timore in 1814, and was regularly attached to the 1st Battalion, 36th Regi- 
ment of Maryland Troops, composed of the Volunteers and Militia of Balti- 
more County, Maryland — that he Samuel Dewees did stand in the intrench- 
ments with arms in hand during the nights that the troops stood therein, 
and so regular and attentive was he to his duties as a musician, that at all 
times when Dewees was called for he was at his post, and ready to perform 
the duties assigned him in Camp faithfully and fc^arlessly. 

GEORGE TIMANUS, 
Major in Command of the \sl Battalion, 26th Regiment M. M. 
stationed on Chinquepin Hill, near Baltimore, September, 1814. 
Baltimore, October 20th, 1843. 



Certificate from the Rev. Jacob Geiger, Manchester. 
I do hereby certify that I have been acquainted with Captain Samuel 
Dewees about 26 years, and do cheerfully certify that he is a regular mem- 
ber of the Lutheran Church in Manchester — that wars and their rumors 
have now no more charms for him, reclining as he is upon the bosom of a 

*The Westminster Certificate (No. 7) and others have been unavoidably crowded 
out for want of room. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 359 

Redeeming God as a devout disciple of that meek and lowly but des- 
pised Potentate of earth's broad domains and Heaven's boundless realms of 
unconceived of glory. That in the profession of the i-eligion of Jesus Christ 
he exhibits a strong desire to possess his soul in patience until his great, 
certain and final change shall come. 

To the devout lovers of the Gospel, of country of good, to whatever divi- 
sions of the Church of Christ they may belong, and to the patriotically just 
not attached in membership, I state, that I feel desirous to contribute my re- 
commendatory tnite in aidance of his very laudable design, that of writing, 
publishing and disseminating a history of his life and services as a soldier of 
the Revolutionary and last wars., and hope, that a generous public will re- 
member this now aged veteran in the bestowmeat of its patronage liberally 
upon him. 

His history no doubt will be a very interesting one, and will be well en- 
titled to the credence of its readers. 

JACOB GEIGER, 
Pastor of the German Reformed Church in Manchester. 

Manchester, Carroll County, Md., January 22(1, lS-14. 
« 

Certificate from the Methodist Episcopal Preachers on the Westminster 
Circuit. 

We the undersigned, living in the vicinity of Captain Samuel Dewees, 
appreciating as we do, the glorious liberty which we enjoy, as well as the 
Patriotic spirits, made the instrumentality by Almighty God in procuring 
this inestimable boon for us, feel willing to contribute so far as our humble 
ability may justify, to the temporal and eternal welfare of the aged Captain; 
and hence believing, that in view of his military services he possesses 
strong claims upon the patronage of a generous and patriotic public, would 
with great pleasure and cordiality recommend him to its generosity. Real 
worth wherever it is found, and in whatever station it is developed, should 
be appreciated and rewarded. That the piesent effort of his respected 
Biographer, may be successful in encircling his brow with the wreath of 
" literary fame," and of imparting a solace to his heart, and that it may 
also smooth tlie declining years of the aged veteran, that the sun of his 
earthly existence may set cloudlessly bright, and of his future existence 
may rise and shine with eternally increasing splendor amid the beauties of 
Heaven, is the earnest desire of 

HORACE HOLLAND, 
ELIAS WELTY, 
Preachers on the Westminster Circuit. 

Hampst.ead, Carroll County. Md.,Jan. 27, 1844. 



Certificate of the Rev. Jacob Albert, formerly Pastor of the Lutheran 
Church at Manchester. 

I do certify that I had an acquaintance during my residence in Manchester 
with Captain Samuel Dewees, and can cheerfully state, that he was a reg- 
ular member of the Lutheran Church in Manchester, then under my past- 
oral care — that his deportment was very unobjectionable, and his character 
amiable and excellent. With respect to his having been a soldier of the 
Revolutionary and last wars, I never heard it doubted by any person. He 
has drawn two small pensions for a number of years past, one from the U. 
States Government, and one from the Government of Pennsylvania as a re- 
ward for his services in the Revolntionarv war. Of his havina; been a sol- 
dier at Baltimore, as one of the Defenders thereof in 1S13 and 1814, accom- 
panying certificates will show conclusively. With regard to his patriotism 
it has always been considered of the same cast of that possessed by our 
brare and unconquered galaxy of revolutionary veterans who established in 
the strength and glory of the'ir might this our glorious republic of Freedom. 



360 RECOJ^MENDATIONS. 

That his history (no doubt full of incidents) may receive that patronage and 
credence which it will undoubtedly merit is tlie sincere wish cf the under- 
signed. JACOB ALBERT, 
Pastor of the Lutheran Church in Hanover. 
Hanover, February 4lh, 1S44. .1 

Certificate from Col. John Lamniolt, Captain IVm. Houck, Captain Jacob 
Ebaugh, Joseph Ebaugh, (Merchant, Humpstead,) Henry Lammott, 
Samuel Lammott and George Richards, Esqrs.and others who are neigh- 
bours to Captain JOewees. 

We the undersigned having a personal acquaintance with Captain Samxiel 
Dewees, (our aged revolutionary neighbor,) do certify, that we have the 
fullest evidence of his having served his country during the revolutionary 
war, and to many of us it is also known that he stood one of the Defenders 
at Baltimore, in IS 14, for some of us were there at the same time in the ca- 
pacity of volunteer soldiers of our country. 

That Captain Dewees is still, one among the few remaining unconquered 
heroes of the revolution, who adheres firmly to the principles of republi- 
canism, and to the free institutions of his country, and tliat he is as patriotic 
in spirit now, as he was in the dark days that tried men s souls, is manifest. 
He is aged, and may ere long be gathered to his fathers, there to sleep 
the long sleep of the grave. 

That his history which has been gotten up (in part) to benefit him in 
his few remaining years may obtain for itself the patronage of an enlighten- 
ed, discerning and .generous public, ought to be the ardent wish of every 
spirited and patriotic lover of his country. 

His history written and published by John Smith Hanna, is (we under- 
stand) fullof incidents, and will be well deserving of a perusal, at the hands 
of the friends of liberty, who are not Gallio like, and cares not for the 
things that savor of Freedom, of Liberty and Independence. 
Jacob Ebaugh,* Tobias Woods, Henry Lammott,* 

Thos. W. Wells, Joseph Ebaugh, William Houck, Sr.* 

JohnSyfert, Jetson L. Gill, "Wm. 1'. Hammond, 

Joseph Shearer,* Abraham Miller, Ulrich Z. Buchan,* 

Samuel Lammott, John Lammott,* Wm. Knott. 

Those marked thus* were Defenders of Baltimore in September 1S14, 
and were there in cump on several occasions previous. 



This is to certify that Mr. John Smith Hanna my Biographer, has written 
ia substance the detached portions of the liistory of my life, obtained from 
me at various times. That the language being changed alters not the sense, 
and I can safely assert that what he has written (and which is now in pro- 
gress of publication, j as a history of my life as a soldier of the revolutionary 
and lust wars, stands as I wished it, and conveys the sense which I intend- 
ed when the relations were given him by myself. As regards the quoted 
matter, I hope that those acquainted with a history of the revolutionary and 
last wars within my country, will do him the justice to believe, that he has 
been governed by the desire of making a history of my life useful among the 
citizens of our happy republic, particularly among the youth, and also, that 
they will find that the extracts inserted from his own and other historical 
works possess morality, patriotism and truth in the main. With this re- 
commendation for Mr. Hanna who has struggled onward in his efforts (in 
poverty) to befriend mc without having had the use of a dollar growing out 
of the publication as an advantage to himself, I res))ectfully submit the pre- 
sent hutory of my life to an enlightened, discerning, patriotic and generous 
public. 

Siuned, SAMUEL DEWEES. 
Prcsc7it, MOSES MYERS. 

Manchester, May 15, 1841. 



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